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COPYRIGHT 
19 19 BY 

GEORGE 
W H A R T ON 
EDWARDS 



All rights reserved 



HM 20 1919 



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VANISHED TOWERS AND CHIMES 
OF FLANDERS. 

VANISHED HALLS AND CATHE- 
DRALS OF FRANCE. 

ALSACE-LORRAINE. 

BRITTANY AND THE BRETONS. 

SOME OLD FLEMISH TOWNS. 

MARKEN AND ITS PEOPLE. 

THE FOREST OF ARDEN. 

ETC. 



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So 

flDg f rten^ 
Dr. E&flar JSrenson Smitb 



JForFtoorii 



Perhaps in a book like this, dealing with the superficial 
and picturesque characteristics of the country as seen cas- 
ually yet appreciatively by an observant traveler, one 
should not attempt to lift the veil that curtains it so 
charmingly. Yet the red blast of the great war now so 
happily ended for suffering humanity, has so shriveled 
the fabric that here and there one sees the bare bones of 
the skeleton hitherto so well concealed from view. The 
Dutch have always been thought "stein reich" (stone 
rich), as the saying is, and certainly there is little evi- 
dence of poverty in the country. The Dutch "boer" or 
farmer in his quaint costume is the vital strength of the 
country. He is phlegmatic, self-reliant, "rooted in the 
soil," to quote David S. Meldrum. One would not at- 
tribute to him any sort of emotion, yet emotional he is, 
and certainly to a great degree. From his class come 
the "Stadhouders," and the "Stadhouders" govern the 
country. 

The people during the great war were pro-Ally to the 
last man of them. Not for any love of the English or 
the French, be it said ; on the contrary they have neither 
love nor sympathy for either. They were pro-Ally be- 
cause of their fear and hatred of the Germans. In their 

9 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

eyes the consort Prince Henry was ever a standing men- 
ace to the future of the Netherlands. In vain did he 
woo them with soft words and carefully considered acts ; 
they would have none of him. I have witnessed their 
silent treatment of him on occasions when he endeavored 
to take part in their festivities at the yearly kermess. In 
the early days of the war, when certain German officers 
were interned at The Hague the Prince Consort was seen 
driving with them several times, and finally when he 
invited them to a formal dinner the "Stadhouders" 
brought up the matter formally in the "Raad." After 
grave and deliberate discussion it was {so says the gen- 
erally trustworthy Nieuws Van den Dag) resolved to 
reprimand his Highness the Prince Consort, and in case 
of a repetition of the offense, to deprive him of his uni- 
form and confine him to barracks for a specified number 
of days. It is said that the reprimand was sufficient, and 
that there were no more dinners to the interned officers. 

The nobility, it is said, from the Queen down to the 
poorest "Yonkheer," are absolutely pro-German, and I 
am credibly informed that nearly all of the nobles (Hoog 
en wel edel geboren) are members of a very powerful 
order called the Johaniters, which dates from the days 
of the Crusaders. Many of the reigning monarchs are 
hereditary members of this society. This order enforces 
the vow of implicit obedience, which each member takes 
upon entering. One of these vows is that of the enforce- 

10 



FOREWORD 

ment of the right of sanctuary granted to each member. 
The oath connected with this vow is said to be really 
mediaeval in its luridness, naming dire and almost unbe- 
lievable penalties for any evasion or failure to carry it 
out to the letter. Count Von Bentinck is a prominent 
member of the Johaniters, and as such was "commanded 
by high authority to prepare for the reception, entertain- 
ment, and shelter of William Hohenzollern at his Cas- 
tle of Amerongen near Utrecht — a command which 
could not be evaded." [Nieuws Van den Dag — Am- 
sterdam, December lOth, 1918.) 

The Castle of Amerongen, the residence of Count 
Bentinck, is situated at some distance from the town, an 
ancient building of dull brick mantled with ivy, sur- 
rounded by a deep moat, and approached by an arched 
bridge through a brick gateway flanked by two lanterns. 
The building is two storied, in the form of a letter H, 
with four towers, one at each corner, which are sur- 
mounted by the quaint onion-shaped bulbs so common in 
the Netherlands. There is a very ornate gilded sculp- 
ture of the ancient Bentinck arms in the gable over the 
wide white pillared doorway, which is approached by a 
broad double flight of stone steps. There are many shut- 
terless windows, with heavy frames painted white, and 
over the gilded coat of arms is a small pent roofed gable 
in which is a white clock face with gilt hands. The roof 
is of dark gray slate, and flying about are flocks of ravens 

11 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

that have their nests under the eaves. The highroad 
passes before the Castle, and is lined with heavy trees. 
In the winter a more dismal dwelling place can hardly be 
imagined, for on every hand the flat bleak fields, dotted 
with farmsteads, stretch for miles around. 

Such castles as this called "Amerongen" are not really 
large estates. As a rule they consist of but a few acres, 
but the grounds are made as picturesque and as attractive 
as possible, that is, of course, in the Dutch style. The 
"castle" is usually of red brick, with slate roof and as 
many bulbous towers as it will stand. The windows 
are wide and tall, and the frames are invariably painted 
white. There will be many beautiful old trees, and the 
grounds will be planted with a great variety of flowers in 
carefully placed ornamental beds. There will be canals 
and ponds, and if possible a moat, no matter how small 
it may have to be, and always there will be a summer 
house or pagoda, where Mynheer and his lady may sit in 
contemplation of the ducks or swans among the water 
lilies. These of course are the ancient and more impor- 
tant places. The newer ones, owned by the wealthy mer- 
chants and "bourgeoisie," are more up-to-date — what is 
called "art nouveau" style, painted in gay fantastic colors 
and crowded'into small spaces, but nevertheless they are 
not unattractive. 

To understand the position taken by the Netherlands 
in this matter of sanctuary which they so vehemently 

12 



FOREWORD 

urge, one should remember the Dutch hatred of tyranny 
of any sort. Holland is as free as any nation in the 
world. As a country there is little of republican lib- 
erty that the Netherlands does not already enjoy, so the 
recent attempt of the Socialists to upset the throne not 
only failed dismally but resolved itself into a most loyal 
support of the Government. While underneath is an 
evident impatience with the police restrictions over all 
Socialistic gatherings of the people, their supreme sense 
of order holds them in check. They love the Queen. 

The Dutchman has a rare and really splendid under- 
standing of the quality of justice! He will have his 
rights as he understands them. Thus came the Dutch in- 
dignation over the Boer War, and over the details of the 
Zola trial. This indignation had nothing to do with the 
guilt or innocence of Dreyfus or their opinion of the wis- 
dom of Zola. They were inflamed at what they con- 
sidered a really flagrant travesty of justice. 

Although uncompromising and entirely utilitarian, the 
Hollander is at heart a sentimentalist. Plain of speech 
to the verge of brutality, he is entirely truthful. He suf- 
fers from no form of illusion, but he is really infantile in 
his affections and in his family life. Witness him in 
those glimpses furnished by the paintings of Van der 
Heist, Franz Hals, and Van Ostade, when he abandons 
his phlegmatic calm and plunges into the most extraor- 
dinary abandonment during the yearly "Kermis." Not 

13 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

only is this true of the common people, but the upper 
class as well. Each of the great Universities in Holland 
celebrates the date of its foundation every five years by 
a period of hilarity in most characteristic manner, with 
concerts, banquets, and street processions headed by 
bands of musicians. The sight is most amusing and sur- 
prising, almost unbelievable, that these erstwhile grave 
burghers and their families could thus unbend. No one 
thinks the worse of them for the temporary lapse, but it is 
doubtful if there is another country where dignified avo- 
cats and statesmen, professors, and grave country gentle- 
men, present such a picture of ingenuousness and aban- 
don as witnessed in these celebrations. 

For years the Dutch have enjoyed a safe and unevent- 
ful life. The country emerged from her last war 
stripped of power but gorged with wealth. Her former 
prowess she can never regain, and she has retained her 
wealth by incredible industry. Her place among nations 
she holds by consent of Europe, and thus her political 
existence has been untroubled and negative. The Dutch 
have known very well indeed that the cannon purchased 
from Germany that line her side of the Rhine are only 
for show. They have known, too, that their Navy is of 
no avail and quite needless. So Holland has lived on, 
entirely self-centered, splendidly exploiting her rich col- 
onies, leaving to history her former dreams of empire, 
and practicing in speech and action that prudence of 

14 



FOREWORD 

which she has made a supreme virtue and which has hith- 
erto made for her safety and security. . . . 

And then all at once the great war roared about her. 
Belgium was invaded and overrun by the Hun. More 
than a million hapless frantic peasants streamed across 
her borders, and found shelter and food freely given. 
She quickly mobilized her eight hundred thousand sol- 
diers for the protection of her frontier, and the "Stadhou- 
ders" resolved unanimously to maintain her neutrality, 
"by force of arms if necessary." This she has most cer- 
tainly done, in spite of the fact that the consort is a near 
relative of the ex-Kaiser. 

A glance at the map will show the river Scheldt, a short 
distance below Antwerp in Belgium, flowing seaward 
through a narrow strip of Dutch territory. At its mouth 
lies Flushing. Forts in a double array line the whole 
length of the river. This possession of the mouth of the 
river Scheldt by Holland has been a source of dissatisfac- 
tion to Belgium for many years, and led to the building 
of the great Zeebrugge (pronounced Zaybrigga) Canal 
which made Bruges a seaport. During the war Zee- 
brugge was a most valuable naval base of Germany where 
her submarines were assembled and sent forth. It is 
now claimed by Great Britain that Holland winked at 
the use of the Scheldt River by Germany, whereby her 
submarines built in Antwerp in the huge docks were sent 
down the river to the channel under cover of darkness. 

15 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

This is vehemently denied by Holland, but whatever the 
truth of the matter may be, Belgium now presents a de- 
mand to be placed before the members of the Peace Com- 
mission asking that both the Scheldt and the irritating 
strip of territory through which it runs shall be handed 
over to her. Not only this, but to the dismay and indig- 
nation of the Dutch she also asks that the Provinces of 
Dutch Limburg and Luxemburg also shall become Bel- 
gian. 

As to the question of the cession of the Scheldt and 
these territories, Holland is aroused to the most intense 
indignation, and the newspapers are filled with protest- 
ing letters from all over the country. However, it is 
doubtful if protest will avail. The sufferings of Bel- 
gium are such that almost any demand she makes at the 
Peace table will probably be granted. The position of 
Holland to-day is one which furnishes much cause for 
speculation, and prophecies as to the future, though in- 
teresting, are rather idle. This much may be said : Hol- 
land will certainly have to accept whatever the members 
of the Commission may decide upon, and make the best 
of it. 

That Holland recognizes the difficulties and dangers 
which she faces is made plain by the appointment of 
Yonkheer Rene de Marees Van Swinderen as Minister 
of Foreign Affairs at The Hague. Yonkheer Van Swin- 
deren filled the difficult post of Plenipotentiary of the 

16 



FOREWORD 

Netherlands in London during the war, and served as 
minister at Washington for many years. His appoint- 
ment to the direction of Foreign Affairs in London is 
welcomed by the "Entente" Powers, and is expected to 
relieve the strain to which their intercourse with the 
Netherlands has been subjected since 1914. 

Van Swinderen, in spite of the exceedingly unfriendly 
attitude assumed by the Dutch Government, though not 
by the Dutch people, has managed to retain, throughout, 
the confidence of the British Government and the favor 
and good will of the Court and the British people, while 
carrying out in the most punctilious manner the instruc- 
tions of his Government, while as a matter of fact he has 
never made any secret, in England or at home, of the 
direction in which lay his sympathies in the great war. 

It is urged at Paris that the action of the Dutch Gov- 
ernment in permitting the Germans continually to vio- 
late the neutrality of her territory in Limburg for the 
transmission of war supplies and German troops to the 
front undoubtedly prolonged the war and added to the 
great difficulties and losses of the Allies, and even when 
the German collapse occurred this sympathy and com- 
plaisance enabled the Germans not only to retreat with 
supplies and arms intact, which should have been sur- 
rendered to the Allies by the terms of the armistice, but 
furthermore facilitated and enabled them, it is claimed, 
to remove great stores of plunder from the Invaded ter- 

17 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

ritory into Germany. It must be added that the Stad- 
houders hotly opposed this attitude of the Government, 
but apparently nothing came of their denunciations, and 
in answer to their protests the Crown extended "right and 
privilege of sanctuary" to Wilhelm and his family, "or- 
dering" Count Von Bentinck to receive the ex-Kaiser at 
his castle at Amerongen and conveying the Crown Prince 
in safety to the bleak island of Wieringen off the Helder, 
where he remains, to the manifest uneasiness of the fish- 
ermen. 

It must be said that the Dutch Government most ear- 
nestly justifies its action as based upon existing laws 
which it could not and cannot ignore, but the text of 
these laws is not given out or explained in any way by 
the Prime Minister in his communications. Stubborn 
and determined is the spirit of the Dutch people in de- 
fense of their rights as they understand them. 

"On that bank and shoal," says Motley, ("The Dutch 
Republic," Part III, Chapter 9) "the extreme edge of hab- 
itable earth, the spirit of Holland's freedom stood at 
bay," and so it stands to-day, no less stubborn, no less de- 
termined. The mental attitude of the foreigner towards 
the manners and customs of the people of the Nether- 
lands, as well as his manifest amusement in the super- 
ficial aspect of the country; his refusal to take any part 
of it seriously, is a source of intense irritation to the edu- 
cated class. 

18 



Amerongen Castle 



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FOREWORD 

Mr. B of Monnickendam, whose many courtesies 

I hereby acknowledge, asks me to say to my readers "that 
the Netherlands is something else than a colored postal 
card country, in which on flat green fields are rings of 
dancing red-bodiced, white-becapped girls; fat herds of 
black and white cows browsing beneath the wavering 
arms of fantastic windmills, and stolid lines of Zuyder- 
zee fishermen clad in incredibly wide trousers and com- 
ical short-waisted red coats gazing seawards at nothing in 
particular. 

"The Netherlands," he says, "is not to be considered 
as a fat Dutch cheese in a puddle of water." The Queen 
does not commonly wear a flapping lace cap with silver 
screw ornaments at her temples ; nor has she long yellow 
braids hanging down her back. The "Stadhouders" do 
not appear before Her Majesty in wide velveteen maroon 
colored trousers, and elaborately carved and varnished 
wooden shoes, executing pirouettes in unison, their hands 
in their pockets, bulging with Delft bottles of Schnapps, 
and long pipes in their mouth; nor do all the people wear 
the costume of Marken. Please say [he urges] "that the 
Netherlands is not a nation of freaks, that we venture to 
consider ourselves a most serious, energetic, and impor- 
tant people; that in our estimation we are not at all be- 
hind the times; that certainly our traditions are sacred to 
us, but that our position in the world of Art, Science, Lit- 
erature, and Industry, is at least honorable, and that we 

19 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

are not content to rest upon our achievements, but are en- 
tirely abreast of the times, and ambitious as to our future. 
Say to them also, mynheer, that if they would appreciate 
the Netherlands and know it for what it is, that they 
must believe that our picturesque anachronisms are not a 
whit less amusing to us than they are to the tourist, and 
that the evidences of the sixteenth century manners in 
the out-of-the-way districts are regarded by us simply 
with aif ectionate tolerance. Thus, mynheer, you will do 
a great justice to my beloved country." 

Nevertheless, while assuring Mynheer B that I 

appreciated his feelings so eloquently expressed, I took 
great pains to explain to him that the characteristics 
which seemed so trivial and unworthy to him, were those 
which rendered his country so charming and so dear to 
the lover of the quaint and the unusual, and that he need 
have little fear that the brave little country "at the peril 
of the Sea" would be misunderstood by the people of the 
great Republic, whose admiration for the laws and the 
great and heroic deeds of the Dutch is unbounded. 

Dutch pride in the achievements of their country is not 
to be wondered at. Let us remember too that the men 
who founded New York were Dutchmen ; that the Puri- 
tans who arrived at Plymouth had spent years at Delft 
under Dutch influence ; that Roger Williams, the founder 
of Rhode Island, was educated in the Netherlands, and 
that William Penn's mother was a Dutchwoman. These 

20 



FOREWORD 

facts account for our affection for the Netherlands. 
There is a most popular ballad by Brand in which the 
Dutch proclaim their sentiments : 

"Wij leven vrij, wij leven blij 
Op Neerlands dierbren grond, 
Outworsteld aan de slavernij, 
Zijn wij door cendracht groote en vrij ; 
Hier duldt de grond geen dwinglandij, 
Waar vrijheid eeuwen stond. 

(Literally translated) 
"We live free — we live blithe, on Netherlands' dear ground; 
delivered from slavery, we are through concord great and free; here 
the land suffers no tyranny, where freedom has subsisted for ages." 



21 



(jtont^nts 



PAGE 

Foreword ......,., ... ... ■„ 9 

I The Netherlands . 29 

What is "Holland ?"^ — What Hollanders think of "Dutch 
Quaintness" — Holland in war-time — Famous places and peo- 
ple — Smokers and bookshops — The People's Poet. 

II Characteristics 46 

The dykes— Government — Religion — The language — Geog- 
raphy — Entertainment. 

III Art, Ancient and Modern .... 67 

Dutch painters — Art, ancient and modern — The patroons — 
The automobile — Skating festivities — Civic marriages — The 
feast — Wedding ceremonies. 

IV "The Hollow Land" 86 

Walcheren — Spanish Zeeland — Breakfast — The sweet chimes 
— Dortrecht — The Hollow Land — Erasmus in the Groote 
Market. 

V Veere 96 

A forgotten village — Old houses and old people — Town 
Hall and Castle — The deadest town in Zeeland — Charming 
days in old Dort— The Dam on the Rotte— The old glass 
of Gouda. 

VI Utrecht .116 

The Cathedral— Amsterdam— The back streets — A glass of 
ice water— The Premier Mine— The Weeper's Tower— Clean 
Broek— Theatrical Marken — Zaandam— The "Trekschuyt"— 
Fishermen and their houses — The Museum. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

VII Alkmaar, the Cheese Market . . .140 

The siege — The market place at night — The side shows — 
Hoorn — Ihose little birds — The grateful mothers — Hinde- 
loopen — The Boer, or farmer — The Betuwe, or Goodland — 
The fields. 

VIII By Land and Sea 160 

Railway manners — A pretty Dutch house — Haarlem — A 
penal colony — St. Anna's hofje — The absence of poverty — 
Scheveningen— The fishing town — The herring fishery — Wil- 
liam of Orange, and Tromp — The Half Moon. 

IX The Theater 184 

The stork — The tobacco shops — On to the tramways — Myn- 
heer at his ease — Through the waterland — The hospitality of 
the farmers — An arrangement in Orange — In the North Sea — 
The return to port — A Dutch peasant. 

X The Hague 204 

A cosmopolitan town — The consort — "London fog" — The 
Queen — The pleasure of the table — The nobility — The church 
— Contentment. 

XI Through Friesland ...... 224 

To Stavoren — In Friesland — The "Floating Shop" — Ijilst — 
Workum — Hindeloopen — On to Bolsward — Leeu warden — The 
farmers — The Pinke Wad — Dokkum — The Innnkeeper — Wie- 

rum — Nes. 

XII The Republic 253 

History — Under Spanish rule — William the Silent — Na- 
poleon — Wilhelmina — Origin — The People. 

XIII Dutch Silver . 270 

American collectors and American imitators — Leeuwarden 
silversmiths — The Guild of Hammermen — Bottle-holders and 
cream jugs — Silver old and new. 

XIV "Tot Weersiens" 277 

XV Postscript 280 

Index 285 



%j&t of IltoisMottS 



PAGE 



Hoorn — The Old Tower .... Frontispiece 

Amerongen Castle i8 

Amsterdam — The Little Courtyard .... 38 

Leeuwarden — The Old Church 62 

Enkhuizen — An Interior 68 

A Dutch Go-Cart 78 

Middelburg — The Kermis . . . .... .90 

Veere — The Return to Port . . . . . . . 98 

Veere — The Town Hall . . . . . . .104 

Goes — On the Way to Market . . . . . .108 

Goes — An Oyster Girl 112 

Amsterdam 120 

Monnickendam — Bell Tower and Weigh House . 1 30 

Marken — On the Jetty 134 

Alkmaar — The Weigh House 142 

The Friesland Hat 150 

A Friesland Farm House 154 

Haarlem — The Amsterdam Gate 162 

Enkhuizen — The Weigh House 166 

Harlingen, from the Water 17° 

Delftshaven 176 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 



Delft— The "New Church" 180 

Leeu warden — The Stern of a River Boat .-. . .192 

In a North Holland Tower 200 

H. M. Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands . . 212 

A Dutch Boer .222 

Enkhuizen — The Drommedaris Tower .... 226 

Near I j list — A Typical North Holland Windmill . 232 

Hindeloopen — The Little Green Staircase . . . 236 

Bolsward — The Tower 240 

One of the Boys — Torment and Delight . . . 246 

Sneek — The Water Gate :.- :. 250 

Hindeloopen — The Headdress . . .,.,.,. 256 

Gorkum — Old Houses ., ,.. . 260 

A Street in Leyden . , .., . . 264 

A Zeeland Interior 268 

Model of Warship in Silver Repousse 272 

Six Rare Examples of Sleighs in Silver .... 276 

Krommenie — Over the Teacups . . ... 282 



%0lM of So-dd^ 




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^|MHE name "Holland," as applied to the little king- 
■ U dom on the North Sea, is never used by the Dutch. 
^■'^ Holland, be it known, is the term applied to only 
two of the eleven provinces of the realm, the official name 
of which is "The Netherlands." These two provinces 
are respectively North Holland and South Holland, and 
are collectively designated and known as "Holland." 
In North Holland is Amsterdam, the commercial capital 
of the Kingdom, and in South Holland is the social and 
diplomatic center. The Hague; so perhaps because of a 
careless familiarity with these important centers, the 
whole country has been miscalled by the foreigner. At 

29 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

any rate the people object to the error and invariably cor- 
rect the mistake, politely enough, be it understood, but 
with firmness, and as a rule in very good English too, for 
the majority of the people know some English even if, as 
the captain of the Amsterdam boat in the "Vicar of 
Wakefield" averred, they are not "fond of it to distrac- 
tion." And so at the risk of offending many of my Dutch 
friends I use the term "Holland" as the title for this book 
for fear that the correct designation, "The Netherlands," 
may not convey my meaning to the reader. 

Holland to-day is nothing more or less than an armed 
camp, from the Friesland border to the Scheldt River. 
In even the small villages you hear the tread of marching 
soldiers, the rumble of heavy camions and the rattle of 
drums. This people, erstwhile so apathetic and phleg- 
matic, is now keenly alive to the situation. You feel 
that you are in a country trembling upon the verge of a 
catastrophe, for war would be nothing else to Holland, 
The country has been on the very verge of war for four 
years, and there is everywhere seen much more evidence 
of war than in countries actually engaged in the conflict, 
because the army is in or near the cities in the great camps 
instead of at the front. Thus the people and the troops 
are in daily contact. Thousands and thousands of ref- 
ugees from Belgium who crossed the frontier in the first 
months of the war are concentrated in great camps all 
over the little kingdom. These refugees Holland wel- 

30 



THE NETHERLANDS 

corned with open arms, and ever since has fed and clothed 
them without a murmur of complaint. But now this 
hitherto prosperous land feels the weight of the burden, 
and for the first time beggars throng her streets. Her 
hospitals are filled to overflowing; her almshouses are 
crowded beyond belief, but not a word of complaint nor 
an appeal for help has she made to the powers. 

At The Hague perhaps more than elsewhere the spirit 
of the Netherlands is seen to-day. The streets of this 
erstwhile immaculate city are crowded with guns, camions 
and wartime impedimenta. The stately parks are filled 
with soldiers. In all of the wide streets companies are 
ceaselessly drilling, and there are maneuvers and sham 
battles taking place all along the sand dunes which pro- 
tect the coast, and the sound of heavy artillery is heard 
night and day all over the flat country; Holland is ready, 
if necessary, to protect her neutrality even though the 
armistice has been signed and the peace council is sitting 
at Paris.^ 

It might be remarked that never was a country in which 
war is so out of place as in the Netherlands, land of dike 
and windmill, of tulips, hyacinth and cream cheese. 
You think of it maybe as a sort of fairyland, but never 
by any chance as a grim battlefield. The peasantry are 
too quaint; the windmills too industrious; and over the 
calm canals, reflecting the piled-up clouds, spreads such 
evidence of peace. 

^Written in February, 1919. 

31 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

Travelers have likened The Hague to Paris and to 
Philadelphia; it has some of the characteristics of each. 
It is certainly the richest of the cities of the Netherlands. 
Elsewhere one finds dirt, smells, slums and squalor. At 
The Hague, however, the very bricks in the neat 
("netjes," in Dutch) pavement of the streets are daily 
scrubbed and polished by lusty, red-armed maids, and, it 
is said, they are "dusted" each afternoon when they be- 
come dry. The canals are shaded by large luxuriantly 
foliaged trees, beneath which are charming vistas. The 
many windowed houses are framed in clean white paint, 
and the carved doorways, reminding one of old Philadel- 
phia, are lavishly ornamented with brightly polished 
brasses. It is easy to understand why the Dutch are 
proud of The Hague, for here are luxurious living and 
quaint frugality side by side in harmony. Magnificent 
motor cars, and peasant carts laden with brass milk cans 
and drawn by dogs, throng the ways. Diplomats and 
peasants rub elbows on the clean narrow pavements. 
This clean new-old city is perhaps the only one in the 
Netherlands adapted to the requirements of the "fussy" 
traveler. Here are hotels of the first order, with a cosmo- 
politan array of English, French, Russian and Italian 
waiters, and gastronomic geniuses in the kitchens who 
know how to cater to the palates of the diplomats of all 
nations. Here one is in the very heart of the Nether- 
lands; the center of the ancient history and achievement 

32 



THE NETHERLANDS 

of the nation, as well as the favorite residence of the 
Queen and the Consort Prince Henry. The streets are 
thronged with distinguished looking people. The shops 
are as elegant as those of Paris, and the toilettes and cos- 
tumes of the ladies "en promenade" in the afternoon are 
of the very latest fashion. 

The people of The Hague are immensely proud of 
their city and of its many attractions. And they are anx- 
ious that the stranger within its gates shall not miss any 
one of them. On the streets any of the passers-by will go 
out of his way to direct the stranger in search of its mani- 
fold wonders, taking great pains and manifest pleasure 
in careful guidance, and invariably refusing remunera- 
tion for his trouble. Here the lazy tourist is generally 
content to remain in comfort, setting apart a portion of 
each day in which to visit the remarkable monuments of 
the town, sure of his comfortable bath in the morning, and 
"dejeuner" in the French fashion, both of which he has 
found lacking elsewhere in the land of tulips, not to men- 
tion the concerts, communal fetes and like attractions to 
be found at Scheveningen, which one of my prosaic 
friends from New York dubbed "The Beach." If he 
likes museums there is the great historical Mauritshuis, in 
which the ancient Princes of the house of Orange, and the 
"Stadhouder" William I placed the nucleus of that won- 
derful collection of pictures now known the world over. 
Dr. Bredius, the "conservateur" of the museum, will wel- 

33 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

come him enthusiastically, and after his visit the traveler 
will depart with an intimate knowledge of the works of 
Rembrandt: the Lesson in Anatomy; the portrait of the 
officer; and the Simon in the Temple; but if he is wise he 
will leave the works of Jan Vermeer de Delft for another 
visit. The learned Doctor will not object at all — indeed 
he will respect him all the more, and upon his next visit, 
will offer him a choice between Franz Hals and Paul 
Potter, pointing out to him the fact that many other days 
may be spent there in enjoyment of the works of Gerard 
Dou, Franz Van Mieris the Younger, Jan Steen and, 
later on, Rubens and Van Dyck, to mention only the 
great names. There is also the "Communal Museum" 
(Gemeente Museum) , not very well known, but of great 
interest and importance. Here among a great number 
of canvases, are the famous works of Jan van Ravestuyn, 
the concours of Arquebusiers, and the great chef d'ceuvre 
of Van Goyen, for which the council of state paid the 
sum of "600 florins." There is also the little known 
'Torte Drapeau" of Quiringh Gerritz van der Maes. 
Among the modern paintings the amateur will find de- 
lightful examples of Jacob Maris, Gabriel Metzu, 
Mauve, Bosboom, Joseph Israels, Mesdag, and others not 
so well known. For the bibliophile there is the Royal 
Library, housed in a remarkable edifice built in the early 
part of the eighteenth century, and furnished with a stair- 
case in the so-called "Dutch style." I am told that the 

34 



THE NETHERLANDS 

building contains over a half million of volumes, as well 
as collections of illuminated MSS. on vellum "from the 
tenth century," and miniatures, coins of the Netherlands, 
medals, and so on galore. The Chevalier Steengracht 
van Duivenvoorde, whose splendid collection is well 
housed in the "Vijverberg," his residence, admits strang- 
ers on presentation of their visiting cards. 

The ancient "Gevangenpoort" is likewise a museum 
open to the public. It is a gate with gloomy old towers 
near the "Buitenhof." Here formerly were incarcerated 
the political prisoners considered dangerous to the state, 
and it was here too that the most atrocious murder in the 
history of the Netherlands took place, i.e., the assassina- 
tion of the Brothers de Witt. In one of the rooms is a 
collection of instruments of torture dating from a remote 
period, some of them of indescribable fiendishness and in- 
genuity. The old "Binnenhof" is sufficiently ancient to 
please the most exacting antiquary. One is told that it 
was "restored" in 1250, and that originally it was the 
palace of a count; that it preceded the foundation of The 
Hague. (Primitively it was a hedge surrounding the 
palace which gave name to The Hague: La Haie.) A 
number of small gates give access to the court surrounded 
by these ancient edifices. It is in the "Salle Historique" 
of the Cavaliers that her majesty the Queen presides in 
state at the meeting of the "States General," and here she 
reads her speech from the throne. Through the old gate 

35 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

of the "Stadhouders" one passes from the Binnen (Inner) 
to the Buitenhof (outer) surrounded by the habitations 
of the household of the counts, the west side of which is 
the "Stadhouders" quarter, and here all mirrored in the 
"Vij ver" are the ancient walls of the feudal castles. "La 
Justice de Dieu" on the very elegant "Kneuterdijk," 
the "Champ de Tournois"; the "Lange Voorhout"; the 
"Vijverberg" with its superb masses of trees, and the 
"Willemspark" form a collection of beautiful gardens 
rarely to be found in a city. One might go on for pages 
without exhausting the attractions of The Hague. 
What wonder then that it is thronged both winter and 
summer by tourists who "know nothing and care less" for 
other parts of this wonderful little kingdom on the North 
Sea. 

Others there are who love Amsterdam so much that 
they make of it a headquarters year by year. Vondel, the 
great Dutch poet, calls it "Queen of seas and fiancee of 
world commerce," and affirms that its power and riches 
are without equal : that she is "the center of industry, of 
the arts and the sciences — in fact, of the entire universe" I 
At any rate, the city of Amsterdam occupies the first place 
among the cities of the Netherlands. If Rotterdam is 
the great shipping port, then Amsterdam is the financial 
center, and her Bourse easily holds first place. The town 
is characterized by the sumptuous houses of the ancient 
negociants, with their imposing f agades on the aristocratic 

36 



THE NETHERLANDS 

"grachts," occupied by successive generations of mer- 
chant princes and their families, which gives the town its 
great charm. One may find amusement in exploring the 
quaint circles, of which the town is formed on the Y 
River, and which when closely followed bring him back 
to his starting point in most unexpected fashion. These 
circles may be enlarged, but are limited by the "Singel," 
the "Heerengracht," the "Keizers" and "Prinsengracht," 
the "Singelgracht." These circles mark the various en- 
largements of the town. The town is traversed by the 
river Amstel from north to south, and is formed by a hun- 
dred or more little islands connected by more than three 
hundred bridges which gave to Amsterdam the name of 
"The Venice of the North." The great part of the traffic 
is by these canals. In certain quarters of the town the 
backs of the houses and the stores are directly on the 
water, and the boats of quaint form are laden with the 
merchandise amidst a scene of great activity and with a 
tremendous amount of noise and talk. In consequence 
of all this water, and the marshy land, when a house is 
built it necessitates a great foundation of long piles upon 
which rest the courses of brick. It is most entertaining 
to watch this sort of building. 

If perchance one arrives by the Gare Centrale, situated 
on an island in the Y, one is face to face with a great 
avenue artificially made, under tremendous difficulty; al- 
together a remarkable piece of engineering. One passes 

37 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

the new Bourse, or exchange, built by the architect Ber- 
lage, and reaches the "Dam," the ancient center of the 
town, and one of the most imposing "places" in Europe, 
quite surrounded with decorative buildings. Here is the 
great dark Palais Royal, built by Jac. van Kampen. 
The flamboyant Gothic picturesque "Nieuwe Kerk" 
flanks it worthily, containing much treasure in the form 
of painted glass, and great pictures. In its vaults repose 
the ashes of Michel de Ruyter, the Dutch naval hero, and 
the poet Joost van den Vondel. 

It is on the "Dam" that the streets branch away in 
every direction like the spokes of a wheel. Of these the 
principal is the Kalverstraat, lined on both sides with 
shops of every description calculated to attract the tour- 
ist; the ancient "Burgerweeshuis (orphan asylum) and 
the strange and picturesque "Bagijnhoff" (nunnery) ad- 
join all this finery and movement in striking contrast. 
One passes before the old mint tower (muntgebouw) 
with its lofty bulbous tower about which the pigeons 
are circling in clouds, and follows the narrow street to 
the Rembrandtsplein, with its fine statue of the painter. 
From here run many streets in various directions, some of 
them along pretty canals which one longs to explore in 
leisure in a boat poled along perchance by one of the 
voluble red-jacketed boatmen — a most delightful way 
of "touring" Amsterdam, by the way. Hard indeed it is 
for one to know just where to end these random notes of 

38 



Amsterdam — The Little Courtyard 



V^-\ftV\'^«o'^ 'b\\\'ul ^s\'Y — «^\i\^•\'i\^VMV. 




'S[i' 






,aTi-r.c 








■> (rr 



( r <; 






THE NETHERLANDS 

Dutch byways. There is so much to see, and so many 
strange and unusual things to describe. As for the pal- 
aces, the museums, the churches, the pictures : there are 
dozens of the first three, and seemingly miles of the last 
mentioned, all set forth in appreciative and more or less 
truthful detail by — who knows how many — guide books. 
One of the prettiest of the smaller canals is the "Regu- 
liersgracht," and there are large and wide ways (wegs) 
in the aristocratic quarter of the Amstel, and in the 
"Plantage," where are the beautiful well kept gardens of 
the Zoological Society, and the Aquarium. By follow- 
ing the Kalverstraat to the Heiligenweg and the Leid- 
schestraten, one comes to the State Theater (Stadt- 
schouwburg) . This is the "chic," or fashionable quarter, 
with the beautiful "Vondelpark," the pride of Amster- 
dam. One can imagine nothing more picturesque than 
the maze of narrow and quaintly crooked lanes, streets 
and alleyways surrounding the "Oude Kerk," which 
one's fancy pictures the same as in the days of Rem- 
brandt. Then too these streets are thronged with people 
in bizarre costumes, for Marken and Volendam are quite 
near, and of late these towns have furnished most of the 
nursemaids and domestics. Now and then one happens 
upon the strangest of all the costumes, that of the or- 
phans, whose dresses and bodices are one-half red and 
one-half blue, vertically. The boys' trousers, however, 
are not so divided in color, both legs being of dull black 

39 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

cloth. These girls are called "Amsterdamsche Burger- 
weesmeisjes" (town wards) and remain in the institution 
until of age, when they are eagerly sought as maidserv- 
ants. The boys are apprenticed to tradesmen, and be- 
come useful citizens. The Orphanage was founded in 
the sixteenth century by a philanthropic woman named 
Haasje Claas, who presented to the town seven houses 
in the Kalverstraat, and since then the institution has 
flourished and grown rich and great by legacies, this being 
a popular benefaction among the wealthy people. It is 
said that these orphans are so clad that they may be easily 
identified. Tavern keepers are forbidden to harbor 
them, and no orphan is permitted to leave the town with- 
out a regularly written and signed permit. 

One is advised to patronize the dining-rooms on the 
Kalverstraat for entertainment, and certainly the advice 
is good. There are several of these dining places, with 
wide-sashed, lace hung windows giving on the busy 
street, with clean and delightful appointments and serv- 
ing deliciously cooked food ; at high prices, of course. 

Here one finds clerics, the military in full uniform and 
decorations, and well-to-do merchants with their families, 
and well known actresses. Most of the cafes are, how- 
ever, of the noisier and cheaper order, with an early table 
d'hote dinner, over which the company will linger, drink- 
ing liqueurs and smoking all the evening. The Kalver- 

40 



THE NETHERLANDS 

straat is closed to vehicles at a certain hour in the evening, 
after which only pedestrians may use it. 

I was amused in watching the erection of a house in 
this street. It seems that the front and rear walls are 
not built until the roof is in place, in order that, as one of 
the workmen explained in answer to my question, the air 
may dry the mortar in the bricks. The partitions are 
never of plaster and lath as we build them, but of canvas 
pasted or glued to the bricks, or to boards, after which the 
wall paper is pasted to the canvas, and the strange thing 
about it is that the paper sticks and apparently stays in 
place. Nearly all the houses are furnished with cranes 
projecting from the upper gables by means of which 
heavy articles may be hauled up to and through the win- 
dows, for the stairways are like ladders, both steep and 
narrow, so that one sometimes feels like turning around 
and descending backwards, as on shipboard. 

Smoking is an obsession in the Netherlands. Pipes 
seem to be used only in the remote towns. Boys of ten- 
der age may be seen in the streets calmly smoking long 
cigars without attracting comment. One I saw walking 
with his mother, smoking with a comical air of experi- 
ence, and his mother objected not at all. Holland is 
said to be the smokers' paradise, and many quaint tales 
are told of mighty smokers who dwelt in the Netherlands. 
Of one in particular it is said that "His allowance was 

41 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

sixteen ounces a day, an amount which he never exceeded, 
and always consumed — and he lived to the ripe age of 
ninety-nine. From all over the Netherlands famous 
smokers were invited to attend his funeral ceremony. 
To each of these was given, by his order, a souvenir pipe 
and a pound of tobacco with a request that the recipient 
continue to smoke throughout the ceremony. The de- 
ceased directed in his will that both tobacco and matches 
together with his Zeeland pipe be placed at his right hand 
in the coffin, so that he might use them if so minded — "as 
there was no knowing what might come to pass." "For," 
says Salvation Yeo, quaintly and eloquently, "when all 
things were made, none was made better than this same 
tobacco, to be a lone man's companion, a bachelor's 
friend, a hungry man's food, a sad man's cordial, a wake- 
ful man's sleep, and a chilly man's fire, sir." 

Holland is, most certainly, the Smokers' Paradise. 

But it must be understood that neither Amsterdam, 
Rotterdam nor The Hague gives the concrete character- 
istic idea of the Netherlands. These are cosmopolitan 
cities. They are as modern and commercial as cities can 
well be in so old a country. For real character one 
should go into the interior and seek the smaller towns, 
wherein he will find something of the air of the seven- 
teenth or eighteenth century. These are really Dutch, 
and here one finds quiet, cleanliness, and the compara- 
tively unaltered quality of ancient customs. 

42 



THE NETHERLANDS 

But the Dutch people are intensely proud of their 
progress — their culture, and their modernity. The cap- 
tain of the Dutch liner proudly pointed out to me, as we 
swung up to the landing stage at Rotterdam, the great 
glow of electric lights of the city, and above all the flash- 
ing letters on a huge electric sign against the sky, which 
displayed the word "thee" [tea] at dazzling intervals. 
"Is not that wonderful to see in Rotterdam?" he asked, 
waving his hand. "Not bad for the Netherlands — eh? 
That, sir, is on the roof of the Witte Huis, the only 'sky- 
scraper' in Holland — ten stories high, sir — one hundred 
and fifty feet high, sir!" 

One has been much amused at the character of the book- 
shops in the large towns. It cannot be said truthfully 
that the Dutch are not a reading people. Their news- 
papers are well arranged typographically, and the matter 
printed is entirely sound and practical, but they are al- 
most entirely given up to commercial affairs; literature 
has little or no place in their columns. Of poetry there 
is none whatever to be found in the daily press. 

I am told that publishers rarely issue books on any 
other than the subscription plan, and that Dutch authors 
are rarely able to live on the product of their pens. 

The various bookshops have on sale piles of transla- 
tions of English, French and Russian literature in both 
cheap and expensive bindings, and these seem to find a 
large sale among the people. I did not, however, find 

43 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

many Dutch books among these. Translations of Conan 
Doyle and Kipling, and some of Corelli and Hall Caine 
were displayed, and I noted a large poster advertising a 
book, published in weekly parts, with the title of "De 
Wilsons en de Ring van den Doods," which was attract- 
ing much attention, so the shopkeeper informed me. I 
bought a copy for a few Dutch cents, but somehow I lost 
it, so I don't know what sort of a "Ring of the Dead" it 
was, or whether it referred in any way to the history or 
accomplishments of our great President or not. There 
were some books of poetry by Vondel, and by Jacob Cats, 
the latter a man of great culture and a renowned jurist, 
who was twice ambassador to England, "where Charles I 
laid his sword on his shoulder and bade him rise Sir 
Jacob." 

The Quarterly Review printed long ago an account of 
him — "Vondel had for his contemporary a man of whose 
popularity (in Holland) we can hardly give an idea, un- 
less we say that to speak Dutch and to have learnt Cats 
by heart, are almost the same thing" — and goes on to de- 
scribe his characteristics: "An honest graybeard who 
stuck to his paternities . . . his moralities are sometimes 
prolix, and sometimes rather dull. He often sweeps the 
bloom away from the imaginative anticipations of youth 
— and in that does little service. . . . He has no other 
notion of love than that it is meant to make good hus- 
bands and wives, and to produce painstaking and obedi- 

44 



THE NETHERLANDS 

ent children. . . . His volumes are a storehouse of pru- 
dence and worldly wisdom. . . . For the nurse who 
wants a song for her babe — the boy who is tormented by 
the dread of the birch rod — the youth whose beard begins 
to grow, there is a store of verse to console and be grate- 
ful for. The titles of his works are indices to their con- 
tents: "De Ouderdom" (Old Age), "Buijten Leven" 
(Out of Doors Life), "Hofgeadachten" (Garden 
Thoughts), "Gedachten op Slapelooze Nachten" 
(Thoughts of Sleepless Nights) , "Trouwring" (Marriage 
Ring) . "Never perhaps was a poet so essentially the 
poet of the people." 

Old Oom Paul of South Africa is said to have known 
the verse of Vader Cats by heart. It is said too that they 
closely resembled one another in appearance, and this is 
most interesting if true; for their mode of expression in 
homely yet most vivid metaphor was much the same. 
Jacob Cats' house "Sorgh Vliet" still stands among the 
great trees on the Scheveningen Weg, perhaps the pleas- 
antest road in Holland; lately it has been the residence 
of a Royal Duke. It bears the date 1666, and the name 
of its projector Constantine Huygens, a poet and states- 
man. "Sorgh Vliet" means "Without Care," And here 
old Jacob Cats lived two hundred years ago : his memory 
is still held sacred in all Dutch households. 



45 



dlitirtirtFristirg 



^BM he first impression that the traveler in Holland 
flU gets is in one respect similar to that given by the 
^^^ far western prairie regions; and the broad wind- 
swept flat country, with comparatively few trees, and 
lying open to the gales of the North Sea, has a little of 
the same bare aspect. But with this is mingled a most 
decided aspect of novelty. Here the fields are cultivated 
with the care of suburban market gardens, and are sep- 
arated by long, V-shaped ditches, through which the water 
runs sluggishly some feet below the surface of the 
ground. Looking across them, one sees broad, brown 
velvety-hued sails moving in various directions among 
the growing crops; the roadway is on an embankment, 
running high above the land, frequently crossing canals, 
lying far enough below for the brightly painted, well- 
laden barges with lowered masts to pass freely, generally 
without the need of draw-bridges. The trekschuiten, or 
passenger boats, once so common in the canals, are fast 
disappearing; like the diligences, they have been replaced 
by the system of tram-cars which now cross the country, 
but here and there this old-fashioned means of communi- 

46 



CHARACTERISTICS 

cation between the towns and villages still survives, and 
it is certainly a delightful experience to make a journey 
on market day in one of these arks. It is generally a long 
and rather narrow boat, low in the water, and usually 
painted green and white, with a low-roofed deck-cabin 
divided into two compartments running the entire length, 
with clean board-seats, and tiny lace-curtained windows, 
the floor scrubbed with sand until it is almost as white as 
snow. The roof is covered with a mixture of sand and 
pulverized shells on a foundation of bitumen to hold it. 
It is most delightful to sail or be pulled along by "boy 
power" through the country between the "pollarded 
green banks" and look upon the changing landscape — 
"Dutch pictures untouched," as some one has aptly de- 
scribed them — and the brown-armed mills in legions en- 
gaged in battle against the water enemy. It will be 
readily understood that the dykes are a very important 
feature of the country, and some of these are well worth 
examination and study, if the visitor have plenty of time 
on his hands. For the most part these dykes are com- 
posed of earth and sand and clay, kept together by wil- 
lows which are carefully planted and tended. Some of 
the dykes, however, for example the gigantic one at the 
Helder, are built of masonry. Many of them are broad 
at the top, and, being paved with klinkers (brick) , form 
very good carriage roads. The dunes or sand hills which 
line the coast serve as the barrier against the ocean. 

47 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

They are systematically sown at regular intervals with a 
coarse, grayish green grass, which holds the sand together, 
preventing the wind from blowing it away altogether. 
Some six million guilders are spent annually by the 
Dutch government in keeping these dykes in order, and a 
special body of engineers, called "De Waterstaat," is ap- 
pointed to look after them. An elaborate system of 
drainage has also to be maintained by means of powerful 
engines, windmills, etc. It must be remembered that the 
Dutch people have not only to fight against the inroads 
of the ocean, but they have also to deal with many rivers 
which, taking their rise in other countries, flow through 
Holland for their final exit into the sea. Consequently, 
when there are heavy rains, say in Germany, the Rhine 
brings down an immense volume of water to add to the 
troublesome superfluity. The two principal canals are 
the North Holland Canal, which was constructed in 
1819-25, from Amsterdam to the Helder, and which is 
forty-six miles in length, one hundred and thirty feet 
broad, and twenty feet in depth, and of a width varying 
from sixty-five to one hundred and ten yards. Here are 
locks, consisting of large basins, which are tremendous 
pieces of engineering. Their construction cost the State 
an enormous sum. The Merwede Canal has an average 
width of about one hundred feet, and is something like 
forty-four miles in length. 

The climate of Holland is similar to that of England 
48 



CHARACTERISTICS 

for Spring, Summer and Autumn, save that it is warmer 
in the Summer and the cold is much more severe in Win- 
ter. August is the hot month and the least preferable. 
During the Spring the country round about Haarlem 
presents an aspect of indescribable patchworks of great 
sheets of color. These are the tulip and hyacinth beds, 
vivid and beautiful, but the bulbs are grown for profit, 
not pleasure, and economy of space is carefully studied. 
Holland has a relatively low rainfall, accounted for by 
the absence of heights to attract rain-clouds. But as a 
matter of fact, the experienced traveler does well to pro- 
vide himself with mackintosh and umbrella, for the show- 
ers, though brief, are frequent. 

The guilder, or florin, is the common basis of the Dutch 
currency. Commonly called a guilder, plural gulden 
[pronounced hulda], it is always written "f" for florin, 
thus 65.00, f. 1.25, etc. The decimal system is used. 
There are one hundred cents in a guilder. The half 
guilder and quarter guilder are as common as our fifty- 
cent pieces and quarters. It may be well here to embody 
a few dry facts and figures relating to this wonderful 
little country; they need not, however, be read unless one 
is so inclined, but they are necessary to a proper under- 
standing, and for reference if required. 

Self-government is a part of the life instinct of the 
methodical Hollanders, and was at the root of the coun- 
try's antagonism to Spain. With an inborn love of ad- 

49 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

ministering their own affairs, they combine a respect for 
established constitutional authority and a deep inherent 
reverence for their sovereign. 

The country is divided into 1,100 communes — urban 
or rural districts. The enfranchised inhabitants elect 
the communal council, or "Gemeente Raad," which holds 
office for six years, and is presided over by a burgomaster. 
The latter, however, is nominated by the sovereign. In 
authority over the "Gemeente Raad" is the Provincial 
States, also a popularly-elected body, presided over by a 
commissary appointed by the crown. The duties of the 
Provincial States are administrative in their own state 
only. The members hold office for six years. 

Above the Provincial States are the "States General," 
consisting of two chambers. The First or Upper House 
(fifty members holding office for nine years) receives its 
election from the members of the Provincial States. The 
other, commonly called The Chamber, is elected by the 
people. Over the second chamber sits a President, ap- 
pointed by the sovereign. Here all national legislative 
business is transacted, and bills intended to become law 
are prepared and sent up to the First Chamber. The 
latter cannot propose measures on its own initiative. 
The Executive or Cabinet consists of ten ministers, each 
chosen by the sovereign, usually from the Lower House, 
for the Premier must always be a member of "The Cham- 
ber." The portfolios are as follows : Finance, Justice, 

50 



CHARACTERISTICS 

Foreign Affairs, Marine, Interior or Home, War, Public 
Works, Waterways, Trade and Industry, Agriculture 
and Labor, Colonies. 

In addition to governing by ministers, the sovereign 
elects the "Raad van Staat," a body somewhat higher 
than the Privy Council of England, for it has powers 
by which it deals with (i) government bills brought 
before "De Kamer" (the Lower House) and (2) private 
bills awaiting royal sanction. Although elected for the 
respected terms named above, one-third of the members 
of the "Gemeente Raad," the Provincial States and "De 
Kamer" retire automatically every two or three years, 
but are eligible for re-election. 

The army service is maintained partly voluntarily and 
partly by conscription, determined by a ballot. Exemp- 
tions are allowed to sons of indigent parents and other 
special cases. According to the nearest authority at 
hand, the strength of the peace- footing is 1,950 officers 
and 25,000 men. For war the numbers would be im- 
mediately raised to 126,000, with 50,000 auxiliaries. 

For the national budget, the following are some of the 
figures, omitting the cost of the army and navy, which, 
combined, absorb only three and three-quarter millions, 
paid for by separate taxation. In 1904-05 expenditure 
exceeded income, a most unusual occurrence in Holland, 
but the national debt was reduced by two and one-half 
millions. The imports are a little under two hundred 

51 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

million sterling, including twenty millions from the 
United Kingdom. The exports are 170 millions, in- 
cluding thirty-eight millions to the United Kingdom. 

Of the religion of the population of Holland, about 
three-fifths are Protestants and two-fifths Roman Cath- 
olics. There are about one hundred thousand Jews, of 
whom nearly one-half are in Amsterdam. The Protes- 
tants are subdivided into innumerable sects, the chief 
being the Dutch Reformed Church. This is the State 
Church, but is disestablished. 

The national census of the population is taken every 
ten years. The following are the figures for the last 
three decadal periods : 

December 31, 1889 4,549,000 

December 31, 1899 5,104,137 

December 31, 1909 5,347,181 

There are only four towns, according to the last census, 
with populations exceeding one hundred thousand, 
namely : 

Amsterdam 568,000 

The Hague and Scheveningen 270,000 

Rotterdam 418,000 

Utrecht 292,000 

To return to the subject of money. Before going to 
Holland, the traveler would better make himself 
acquainted thoroughly with the mysteries of the Dutch 
coinage, and learn the names by heart. The stranger 

52 



CHARACTERISTICS 

is rather apt to treat the guilder, which is the principal 
coin, too much as if it were equivalent to an English 
shilling, but he will find that the balance will come out 
on the wrong side, as the guilder equals is. 8d. Then 
the "dubbeltje," a silver coin representing two-pence and 
looking not unlike our old-fashioned three-cent piece, 
long since recalled from circulation, is so ridiculously tiny 
that one loses sight of its real value. The following 
are the names of the Dutch pieces now in circulation: 
Halve Stuyver, Stuyver, Dubbeltje, Kwartje or Vijfje 
— Halve Gulden, Gulden, Rijksdaalde, Gouden Wil- 
lem or Tientje. This last coin is of gold. 

Notes are also issued for lo, 25, 40, 50 Guilders, and 
upwards. 

The traveler will say that the less said about the Dutch 
language the better for him. He will undoubtedly find 
it most difficult, if not impossible. But one great ad- 
vantage in choosing Holland as a holiday resort is that 
the majority of the Dutch people know some English, 
and as a rule they are proud of their knowledge and pre- 
fer to use it whenever possible. They appear to be able 
to learn foreign languages with great facility, for even 
among the lowest orders, many may be found who speak 
several languages besides their own. This may be 
partly accounted for by the fact that their own language 
is so difficult and so little understood out of the Nether- 
lands that the Dutch in self-defense are obliged to ac- 

53 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

quire the tongues of other nations in order to compete in 
business. 

Dutch is certainly one of the most difficult of lan- 
guages to acquire, being more guttural than German, 
which it somewhat resembles, and it may be classed by 
the student as a lower Frankish dialect. According to 
the best authorities it existed as early as the thirteenth 
century. It has developed a strong individuality, is ex- 
pressive and devoid of the character of patois, such as 
hampers the Flemish tongue. It has incorporated words 
of foreign origin less, perhaps, than any other of the low 
countries, and is of a remarkable richness and flexibility. 
Its literature is rich and vigorous, as may be recognized 
by the following verse from a favorite song : 

Wien Neerlandsch bloed in de aderen vloeit 

Van vreemde smetten vrij, 
Wiens hartvoorland en Koning gloeit, 

Verhef den zang als wij : 
Hij stel met ons, vereend vanzin, 

Met onbeklemde borst, 
Het godgevallig feestlied in 

Voor Vaderland en Vorst. — Tollens. 
(Literal translation: "Let him, in whose veins flows Nether- 
landish blood, free from foreign stain, and whose heart glows for 
country and king, raise the song with us, united in sentiment, with 
unburdened breast, in the festal song pleasing to God, the Father- 
land and Sovereign.") 

The vowels, a, e, i, o, u are pronounced as in French, 
and are lengthened, but not altered in sound, by being 

54 



CHARACTERISTICS 

doubled (thus oo-o) ; ei and ij, or y, are like the vowel 
sound in the French pays; au and ou like ow in now, but 
broader (aw-oo) ; eu like the French eu or the German o; 
oe like the English oo or the German u; ui has a sound 
fluctuating between oi and ow (as in now) . In most 
other combinations of vowels each retains its usual sound. 
All the consonants are pronounced as in English, except g 
and ch, which have a guttural sound like the g in the Ger- 
man Tag; w, which is pronounced like v; j like the Eng- 
lish y or ee; and v like f. Final n is often dropped in 
colloquial speech (e. g., Leyde' for Leyden, Marke' or 
Marriker for Marken) . 

The definite article is de for the masculine and fem- 
inine, and het for the neuter; genitive des, der, or van 
den, van de, van het; dative den, der, het, or aan den, aan 
de, aan het; plural for all genders de, der, den. The 
Dutch are great sticklers for correctness of form in ad- 
dressing each other, especially among the upper classes. 
Thus, for example, a titled person is "U," properly "Uwe 
Edele," (Your Lordship) with the addition of Mynheer. 
They always address a married lady as "Mevrouw" (pro- 
nounced "Mefrow") . 

A young unmarried lady is addressed as "Mejuffrouw" 
— (Mee-you-frow) "Juffrouwe," (You-Frow) is used 
only in addressing shopwomen, servant maids or others 
of low social position. "Freule" is the term used for a 
young lady of title, or one of noble birth. The stranger 

55 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

is advised to be very careful in these matters so as not to 
give offense, and he should invariably prefix his address 
with the words "Alst U belieft," (pronounced rapidly 
"Assher bleef.") This is simply "If you please" in our 
tongue, and indeed seems to work wonders in smoothing 
the traveler's pathway through the Netherlands. At 
least, this has been my own experience. 

Amsterdam is the capital of the kingdom, and The 
Hague is the official residence of the Queen and Consort, 
although they sometimes occupy the "House in the 
Wood," or "Huis ten Bosche and Het Loo." The Neth- 
erlands are divided into eleven provinces: North Bra- 
bant, the capital of which is Hertogenbosch ; Drenthe, the 
capital of which is Assen; Friesland, capital Leeuwar- 
den; Guelderland, capital Arnhem; Groningen, capital 
Groningen; North Holland, capital Amsterdam; South 
Holland, The Hague ; Limburg, Maastricht ; Over-Yssel, 
capital Zwolle; Utrecht, capital Utrecht; Zeeland, cap- 
ital Middleburg. Besides these provinces, the district 
of Luxemborg, 210,000 inhabitants, capital of the same 
name, is a Duchy under the crown. The most important 
Dutch colonies in the East Indies are Java, Sumatra, 
Borneo, and Celebes; in the West Indies, Surinam, St. 
Eustache and Curasao ; to which must be added a number 
of factories or state holdings of Guiana. The total area 
of these possessions amounts to 766,000 square miles, and 
the population to 28-29,000,000 souls. As near as one 

56 



CHARACTERISTICS 

can find out, the navy contains in the neighborhood of 150 
vessels, of v^hich only a few are of the first class, com- 
manded by two vice-admirals, four rear-admirals, 
" 'schouten-by-nacht," 26 captains, 35 commanders, and 
manned by upwards of 75,000 hands. 

Holland, Pays Bas, the Netherlands, or whatever 
name one chooses to call it, is certainly one of the remark- 
able regions of the world. Here man is indebted to na- 
ture for very little. Napoleon, pretending that the soil 
was formed of alluvial deposits, the debris of French riv- 
ers, annexed the whole region, with a perfect realization 
of its vast value. But the great plains intersected by 
rivers, while formed as he claimed, are yet the handiwork 
of the patient and industrious Dutchman. The sea does 
his bidding, and wind is under his control. Foreign writ- 
ers, not understanding his great qualities, have ridiculed 
him, but he has never been affected by such criticism. 

The very laws of nature have here been reversed, for, 
disregarding the injunction, every house is builded upon 
the sand, and the whole coast is held together practically 
by straws. There being little or no wood in the country, 
whole forests have been brought hither in ships, and bur- 
ied as pile foundations for the cities. Save in the Island 
of Urk in the Zuyderzee (Sowdersay) , there is not a 
native stone to be found anywhere, yet artificial moun- 
tains (almost) have been brought in vessels from Sweden 
and Norway and in the most masterful and ingenious 

57 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

manner erected as barriers against the encroachment of 
the sea. The vast array of windmills over the country 
exact toll from the very air, and rivers are made to course, 
and trees are made to grow exactly where they are needed. 
Water, air and earth thus under control have made for 
the greatness of the Netherlands, which though of com- 
paratively insignificant area, has an historical interest 
greater than countries of larger dimensions. Forced to 
keep perpetual watch against the forces of nature, she has 
had likewise in the past to make heroic resistance against 
foreign aggression. To the American the Kingdom of 
the Netherlands has special attractions. Our laws, or 
rather the best of them, are based upon hers, and she has 
ever been a refuge to the oppressed. Liberty of thought 
and action she insists upon for all, as our own Pilgrim 
Fathers found at Delfshaven. In many ways the Dutch 
have made man their debtor. Her sons have been illus- 
trious in art, in science and in polemics, and in geograph- 
ical research and discoveries she certainly holds an ex- 
alted place. In art she is supreme. It was a Hollander 
who invented the mariner's compass, a spectacle-maker of 
Middelburg who invented the telescope, a Dutch physi- 
cian, Cornelius Van Deebbel, made the thermometer. It 
is stated and claimed that Coster of Haarlem invented 
wooden type, and that the first newspaper printed in 
Europe appeared in the Dutch language. 

Among other great men Holland has produced the 
58 



CHARACTERISTICS 

author of a work that has perhaps a more extended cir- 
culation than any other book, Thomas a Kempis. Eras- 
mus, Grotius and Spinoza, too, are recalled to mind. 
The prophet John of Leyden and the New Jerusalem 
Church, the sects of the Moravians, and the Jansenists 
had here their origin. Ever the sanctuary of the re- 
former, Holland was noted for its tolerance of opinion, 
while in England and elsewhere those who differed from 
the party in power were consigned to the gallows and the 
stake. The regicides of King Charles I found refuge in 
Holland, and here too Charles II and the unfortunate 
Royalists sought shelter after Worcester Field. Lord 
Shaf tsbury fled hither from England to avoid the penalty 
of high treason, and died in peace at Amsterdam. Here 
John Locke, under distinguished patronage, wrote and 
circulated his great essay, "Concerning the Human Un- 
derstanding." 

One might indeed continue for pages without exhaust- 
ing the list, but it is Holland of to-day with which 
we are now concerned. The visitor will find that Hol- 
land is a land which he will respect, as well as admire, for 
its picturesque quality. There being no mountains, 
there are consequently no valleys. Each town and vil- 
lage will offer to the traveler a quality and charm of its 
own, the engineer, the agriculturist and the artist will 
find everywhere food for thought and study. Nowhere 
else can such pictures be found as those in the galleries of 

59 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

The Hague and Amsterdam. Nowhere else can such 
stupendous engineering problems be studied; and the 
Dutch farm is perfection. As to the living, it need 
hardly be stated here that in Holland the mutton and fish 
are of fine quality, and while the style of cooking is not 
always that to which one is accustomed, still one may al- 
ways find a good meal to be had, even in the remote dis- 
tricts, while in the large towns and cities the hotels are 
equal to those of any country. Much, however, cannot 
be said of the water; it is generally drinkable, but charged 
waters are inexpensive and abundant and are recom- 
mended to the traveler in preference to that derived from 
the housetops. 

As to wine, those of the Rhine and Moselle are not 
dear, fairly good port is to be had, and the beer is good, 
though sour to the taste. So that one may live as com- 
fortably and as inexpensively in the Netherlands as in 
America, and it may be said further that nowhere on the 
Continent will the traveler be better served and enter- 
tained. The men are kind-hearted if somewhat re- 
served, and the women, while shy, will cheerfully accord 
one civility. The children are sometimes too curious and 
obtrusive, especially in the tourist regions, but they are 
all kindly disposed. 

Although the Dutch are a very religious people, they 
seem to take an especial delight in the name "protestant," 
and certainly they have shown a remarkable efficiency in 

60 



CHARACTERISTICS 

protesting against and taking from their religion nearly 
every possible aspect of grace and artistic charm. Be the 
church ever so beautiful, and there are countless numbers 
of beautiful churches all over the Netherlands, they seem 
to have exhibited almost a frenzy in stripping it of every 
removable object that formerly embellished it; where it 
was not possible to remove the great altar screens, they 
have scraped off all the carvings within reach, and white- 
washed the whole structure. All such architectural em- 
bellishments they must have deemed "pagan"; there 
could be no other reason for their actions. Their great 
churches are also surrounded by quaint little tile-roofed 
houses and shops built against the gray old gothic walls. 
Being a matter-of-fact and intensely practical people, 
they are surprised when one objects to this on sentimental 
grounds, and reply that these buildings bring in a very 
comfortable revenue to the church and help to pay the 
stipends of the clergy and assistants. Certainly the artist 
cannot object to the picturesque grouping of these bizarre 
constructions, whatever the antiquary may say. 

Perhaps of all the great churches in the Netherlands 
that of Nymwegen, the "Groote Kerk" of St. Stephen, is 
the most beset and thus disfigured by these small houses 
which hem it in on all sides so that one finds the entrance 
with some difficulty. The vast interior is as usual dese- 
crated by whitewash and furthermore a most hideous 
construction of wooden walls obstructs the nave, so that 

61 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

really it is a "meeting house" built inside the walls of the 
church. I have not met with such an example of Prot- 
estantism (if I may so style it) elsewhere. 

The great tower with its bulbs and bold ornamenta- 
tion surmounting the unfinished summit is a most im- 
pressive feature of the market-place, but the clustering 
chimney stacks send forth showers of soot which sadly 
defile the old buttresses. The interiors of these huge 
structures all over the Netherlands are almost invariably 
whitewashed, and many of the wonderful carved benches, 
whereon the cardinal princes formerly sat enrobed in silks 
and lace, are now painted a sickly yellow and grained in 
simulation [ ?] of new oak. 

The congregations on Sunday resemble gatherings of 
Quakers — even to the singular custom on the part of the 
men in wearing their hats. The effect of these somber 
gatherings of grim-faced men beneath the exquisite 
gothic arches is most incongruous and chilling to a de- 
gree: at least so it has always seemed to me, and not 
even the glories of the stained and painted windows 
with their wondrous tones of azure, saffron and vermilion 
has served to remove the chill. 

Thus one recalls the great church at Gouda; that of 
Haarlem with its wonderful organ and the lines of hang- 
ing models of ancient ships ; the church at Delft with the 
magnificent tomb of William the Silent ; all of these are 
great architectural monuments, renowned in history. 

62 



Leeuwarden — The Old Church 



i\->\>\\\'^ wo ■is\'V «'>\iVJVJ5H^^>i 



CHARACTERISTICS 

Perhaps this desecration may be laid at the door of Eras- 
mus of Rotterdam, to whom is ascribed the parentage of 
the Reformation. 

Fell, the friend of "Elia" (Charles Lamb) is credited 
with a desire to hear the great organ of Haarlem, and 
paid a "ducat" to the organist and a half crown to the 
blower for the privilege. He described the sound of the 
"vox humana" as "the voice of a psalm singing clerk," 
and left in disgust. The great Handel on one occasion, 
it is said, "fingered the stops with such skill, that the 
amazed listeners hearing the wondrous sounds fled the 
building saying that he was either angel or devil." This 
great organ, built in 1735 by Christopher Muller, was 
formerly the largest in the world, and is perhaps even 
now the most powerful. It has three keyboards, sixty 
stops, and five thousand pipes, the largest of which is said 
to be thirty-two feet long, and fifteen inches in diameter. 

Mozart too, when a mere boy, is said to have sat at 
the keys evoking music that charmed the hearers. 

The great pillars behind the choir stalls are now being 
cleaned of their coats of whitewash, and the original 
polychrome decoration thus tastefully restored under 
skilled supervision, in response to the petition of a num- 
ber of eminent architects. It may be, then, that other 
churches throughout the Netherlands, now so sadly dis- 
figured, will be similarly favored. The beautiful fleet 
of ships' models hanging in the south aisle was presented 

63 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

to the church by the "Schouenvaardersgild" (Dutch 
Trading Company) as a commemorative votive offering 
in honor of Count William of the Fifth Crusade to the 
Holy Land, 

Lady Anne was much amused by the discovery of a 
pile of quaint carved wooden "stoof jes" or foot warmers 
— which she discovered piled beneath the hinged seats of 
the choir stalls. They must be quite comfortable to have 
beneath the feet in those damp cold days of winter, for 
there is no other means of heating this great structure, 
and they are in general use throughout the Netherlands. 
Such anachronisms do not in any way disturb the Dutch, 
nor do they deem them subjects for either remark or dis- 
cussion; indeed they think it very bad taste upon the 
part of a stranger to refer to them; such sensitiveness 
upon their part is perhaps not one of the least of their 
many engaging qualities. 

In Andrew Marvel's satire "The Character of Hol- 
land," one finds the following lines, apropos of these 
"stoof jes:" 

"See but the mermaids, with their tails of fish 
Reeking at church over the chafing dish I 
A vestal turf, enshrined in earthen ware 
Fumes through the loopholes of a wooden square; 
Each to the temple with these altars tend, 
But still does place it at her western end; 
While the fat steam of female sacrifice 
Fills the priest's nostrils, and puts out his eyes:" 
64 



CHARACTERISTICS 

Oliver Goldsmith in a complaining and illnatured let- 
ter to his Uncle Contarine, giving his impressions of the 
people of Holland criticizes the manners and appearance 
of the Dutch lady — "She burns nothing about her phleg- 
matic admirer but his tobacco. You must know, sir, 
every woman carries in her hand a stove with coals in it, 
which when she sits, she snugs under her petticoats; and 
at this chimney dozing Strephon lights his pipe. I take it 
that this continual smoking is what gives the man the 
ruddy healthful complexion he generally wears, by drain- 
ing his superfluous moisture, while the woman, deprived 
of this amusement, overflows with such viscidities as tint 
the complexion, and gives that paleness of visage which 
low fenny grounds and moist air conspire to cause. A 
Dutch woman and a Scotch will bear opposition. The 
one is pale and fat, the other lean and ruddy : The one 
walks as if she were straddling a go-cart, the other takes 
too masculine a stride." 

Poor Goldsmith had indeed a terrible time of it in 
Holland. 

He liked not the people, and they liked not him. Un- 
cle Contarine had to send him enough money to pay his 
debts and his way back to England, which he reached 
penniless and discouraged. It can hardly be wondered 
at that he followed the fashion of the literary men of his 
day and joined in abuse of the Dutch, who all uncon- 
scious pursued the even tenor of their ways. 

65 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

And now for a few proverbs with which the Dutch de- 
light in enlivening their conversation: 

Wise is he who is always wise. 

The devil makes a pillow of an idler. 

Even a sailor sometimes may fall overboard. 

It might profit a man to end his life ere he dies. 

Never hunt the hare with a drum. 

Never did crown cure an aching head. 

The falling tear soon vanishes. 

Even though you ride watch out. 

Many "gulden" [great fortune] much trouble. 

'Tis easy to cut your neighbor's cloth. 

The old soldier delights in tales of war. 

The tall tree casts a greater shadow than the grape 
vine. 

The silk coat and the velvet gown lighten the purse. 

Before you treat a man eat a bowl of salt with him. 

Watch out when the old dog barks. 

How easy to make a roaring fire with another man's 
turf. 

The doctor and the sexton are rarely intimates. 

The swampland does not need the rain. 

Even the wisest hen lays an egg in the bushes. 



66 



Srt, Smiftit and modern 

y^LYiKT AINLY no one can fully appreciate the art of 
mSl ^^^ great Dutch masters till he has seen the coun- 
^•^ try in which they lived and painted. For theirs 
are pictures which have grown out of the very soil, which 
have been painted by men who were content to paint the 
portrait of their own country, artists who could "descry 
abundant worth in trivial commonplace." The Dutch 
school is the exponent of everyday life ; it has no aspira- 
tions after the great and glorious, the mysterious, or the 
unseen. Nature, as seen in Holland, either out of doors 
or in the house, is the one inspiration of its art. We are 
in the domain of naturalism. We must not suppose, 
however, that the Dutch school in its realistic character 
presents nothing but a brutal materialism, and never rises 
above the delineation of drunken boors at a village inn. 
There is a truthfulness in the Dutch pictures which com- 
mands admiration. It has been well said that "A dead 
tree by Ruisdael may touch a heart, a bull by Paul Potter 
may speak eloquently, a kitchen by Kalf may contain a 
poem." All the painters of this school confine themselves 
to loving, understanding, and representing Nature, each 

67 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

one adding his own feelings and taste — in fact, adding 
his individuality. This love of Nature is specially man- 
ifested in those landscapes and sea-pieces in which the 
Dutch school excels. Visiting various parts of Holland, 
in different kinds of weather, we shall see how each 
painter identifies himself with the special aspect which 
he depicts. A barren, gloomy landscape under a leaden 
sky, unrelieved by a living creature, its grim monotony 
only broken by a waterfall or a dead tree, at once shows 
us Jacob Van Ruisdael, the "Melancholy Jacques" as 
some one has aptly styled him of landscape painters, who 
finds "tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, ser- 
mons in stones." A bright early morning, when the sun 
flashes merrily on white sail and glancing stream, and the 
fat black-and-white cattle are browsing knee-deep in the 
rich meadows, reminds us of the lover of light, Albert 
Cuyp. A warm afternoon, when the shadows of the fruit 
trees lie across the orchards, and an ox or horse or some 
other animal lies in the grateful shade, tells us of Paul 
Potter, the Raphael of modern painters, the La Fontaine 
of artists. An evening landscape, where amid the graz- 
ing cattle some rustic "Melibceus sports with Amaryllis 
in the shade," and presents an idyl such as a Dutch Virgil 
might have written, brings before us the painter of the 
night, Van de Velde. A still pond, with the moon re- 
flected on its surface and a few cottages nearly hidden by 
the dark alder and poplar trees, will remind us of the 

68 



Enkhtiizen — An Interior 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

painter of the night, Van der Neer. The sea-shore with 
high-stemmed Dutch ships sailing over the waves is the 
favorite haunt of Willem Van de Velde; a river flowing 
on toward the horizon, and reflecting a dull gray sky, 
recalls Van Goyen; and if we look on a frozen canal, 
crowded with skaters, Isack Van Ostade stands confessed. 
And this is not only true of landscape and sea pictures; 
the everyday life of Holland is identified in its various 
phases with different painters of this school. Owing to 
the changes which time and fashion make, we shall not 
find in the streets the "Night Watch" of Rembrandt, or 
the "Banquet" of Van der Heist in the town hall, the long 
satin robes of Ter Borch, the plumed cavaliers of Wouv- 
erman, or the drunken peasants of Adriaan Van Ostade. 
But if, in passing through a Dutch town, we see a young 
girl leaning on the old balustrade of a window, sur- 
rounded with ivy and geraniums, we may still recognize 
Gerard Dou. In the peaceful interior of a Gothic house 
where an old woman is spinning and which is lighted by 
the warm rays of the sun, we see Pieter de Hooch. ^ How 
did such a body of painters contrive to spring from such 
an unromantic and distressful period as the latter half of 
the sixteenth century, from so small a country, and dur- 
ing the time of life-and-death struggle known as the 
eighty years' war, when the fortunes of the nation reached 

"German, Flemish and Dutch Painting" by H. G. Wllmot-Buxton and 
Edward S. Poynter, R.A. 

69 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

their lowest ebb? The enigma is still unsolved. The 
artists followed one another in rapid succession. 

BORN IN BORN IN 

Frans Hals 1580 Paul Potter 1625 

Van Honthorst 1590 Jan Steen 1626 

Adriaen Brouwer 1605 Jacob van Ruysdael. . . . 1628 

Rembrandt 1606 De Hooch and Metsu. . 1630 

Jan Lievens 1607 Nicholas Maes and Ver- 

Adriaan Van Ostade. . . . 1610 meer 1632 

Van der Heist 1611 Adrian van der Velde. . 1635 

Gerard Dou 1613 Van Mieris (senior) . . . 1635 

Govert Flinck 1615 Hondecoeter 1636 

Ferdinand Bol 1616 Van der Heyden 1637 

Ter Borch 1617 Hobbema 1638 

Wouverman 1619 Jan Weenix 1640 

Albert Cuyp 1620 

The earliest dawn of art in modern Europe, as shown 
in fresco and distemper, is found on the southern side of 
the Alps ; but painting in oil, the art which glows on the 
canvas of a Raphael, a Titian, or a Rembrandt, had its 
origin in the Netherlands. Most authorities from the 
days of Vasari have credited the discovery of oil paint- 
ing to the brothers Van Eyck, who painted at The Hague, 
Ghent, and Bruges during the latter part of the four- 
teenth and the early part of the fifteenth centuries. But 
they were not the first artists of the Netherlands in point 
of time. 

For centuries the Dutch churches had been filled with 
paintings which seemed to have possessed considerable 
merit (Davies' "Holland"). The moist climate, how- 

70 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

ever, worked destruction to most of the wall productions. 
The churches of Italy, with their wide walls and broad 
roof spaces, afforded scope for fresco decoration which 
was wanting in the structures of a Gothic type. Hence, 
the Netherland paintings were of a different class, being 
smaller and mostly executed on wooden panels. The 
groundwork of the panel was prepared with a thin coat- 
ing of fine plaster, and upon this coating were laid the 
colors mixed with the white of an egg or the juice of un- 
ripe figs. Oil was employed, but its use was attended 
with great disadvantages. It was difficult to lay the col- 
ors finely with it and they took a long time to dry. For 
this reason it was never used in the finished part of the 
work, but only for large masses of drapery and such. 
The great objection to this process lay in the fact — not 
then discovered to its full extent, however — that in time 
the whole mass flaked off, leaving nothing but the bare 
surface of the panel. The Van Eyck brothers mixed 
some substance, probably resin, with boiled oil, and 
found that they had a medium which dried quickly and 
with which the finest and most delicate work could be 
accomplished. The plaster on the panel was interpene- 
trated with this varnish and the whole wrought so finely 
together that at last the surface became like enamel, and 
it is generally next to impossible to detect the traces of 
the brush. (See Conway's "Early Flemish Artists," also 
Burger's well-known book on the "Muses de la Hol- 

71 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

lande," in which Dutch painting is most exhaustively 
treated, and "The Puritan in Holland, England and 
America," by Douglas Campbell.) 

Of the modern school of painting numerous examples 
are scattered all over Holland. In Rotterdam at Boy- 
man's Museum are some splendid examples; also Tey- 
ler's Museum at Haarlem. Examples of Mesdag, the 
painter of the sea, are found in nearly all cities. He 
paints the sea in its prevailing tones of gray. Israels 
paints his figures with great power in both oil and water 
color, and his pictures appeal to the imagination from 
the very simplicity of composition. They are quiet, even 
melancholy in sentiment, depicting scenes of poverty 
with great feeling. Anton Mauve lived near Muider- 
burg on the Zuyderzee and had a great love for sheep. 
There is a deliciously cool and exquisite touch in all his 
work. No other artist of our time has painted so sym- 
pathetically that soft, violet gray light which envelops 
the landscape and the creamy dunes, crested with sparse 
grass tufts, and the feathery trees of North Holland. 
Roelaf's landscapes should be seen and studied. Also 
the interior views of the Dutch churches by Bosbooms. 
The brothers Maris, who painted an enormous number of 
pictures and whose paintings are in nearly every promi- 
nent collection in Europe and America, have upheld upon 
their brush points, with the above-mentioned men, the 
glory of the modern art of the Netherlands. Pieneman 

72 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

was a most assiduous worker, with tendencies toward the 
heroic school of Jordaens of Antwerp, much of whose 
work is to be seen in Holland, notably in the Orange 
Room at the Huis ten Bosch, The Hague. His most am- 
bitious work is that huge canvas at the Rijks Museum, 
"Battle of Waterloo." It measures twenty-six feet by 
eighteen feet. The subject, of course, appeals to every 
Dutchman, for the Prince of Orange was one of the many 
heroes of that day. This picture was painted in 1884. 

Sir L. Alma Tadema, that most distinguished Hol- 
lander whose work is well known the world over, and who 
lived in a veritable palace in London, England, was born 
at Marssum, near Leewarden. He studied under the 
famous painter. Baron Leys, and also worked for a con- 
siderable time with his uncle, Mesdag, the marine 
painter. 

As we have seen then at the close of the seven- 
teenth century, the Dutch school was practically extinct 
and remained so for a hundred years. As these great 
masters came so they went, quickly and mysteriously, and 
although a second Rembrandt has not appeared, nor a 
Paul Potter, yet the Netherlands has in this last-men- 
tioned list of modern painters an academical body, yet 
without its restricted forms, of whom it may well be 
proud. 

The Netherlands, of course, is a maritime nation, a 
nation of sailors and fishermen. The whole coast is 

73 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

dotted with fishing villages, which are fast losing their 
quaint character and becoming fashionable watering 
places. Of these, Scheveningen [impossible to give this 
pronunciation in type] is perhaps the chief, and still 
maintains a large fleet of extremely picturesque fishing 
boats (pinken) , the cargoes of which are sold by auction 
on the beach immediately on their arrival. (I am in- 
formed that this custom is now to be abandoned.) I 
have tried in vain to understand the system of sale, and 
I have often tried to describe it. The scene on such occa- 
sions is often very picturesque and highly amusing. The 
boats are wide and deep and open in the center of the 
ribs, and only decked fore and aft. On each side are 
huge "lee boards," for the boats are flat-bottomed. They 
are of one mast and carry a jib and mainsail, dyed deep 
golden brown. There is no paint used on the bodies of 
the boats save a strip of the most delicate green near the 
gunwale. The hull is covered with a thick coating 
of hard oil, giving the wood a most beautiful appearance. 
To see the fleet off shore and coming sailing in at full 
speed, all in line, and running up on the sand, high and 
dry, is a sight worth traveling far to witness. The vil- 
lage people in their wonderful and varied costumes, the 
fathers too aged to work, and the mothers and children 
await their coming in long lines on the beaches. Horses 
are hitched up and driven at full speed into the shallow 
water and made fast to long lines stretching from the 

74 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

bows of the boats, which they pull shoreward, driven by 
loud cries and exclamations. Then the "patroons," or 
captains, descend with much dignity from their respec- 
tive boats, and mounting on the backs of some of the men 
who stand waist deep in the water, are conveyed ashore 
through the surf to the beach, where they await stolidly 
the unloading of the fish. The fishing is prosecuted with 
considerable success. Drag-nets, or trawls as they are 
called, are thrown overboard and hauled along the bot- 
tom of the shallow waters of the North Sea, naturally 
scraping up everything in their way. Large numbers of 
skate are caught. Other vessels go still further, even as 
far as the north coast of Scotland after the herring, and 
meet with great success. The men are splendid and 
sturdy specimens of their race, blond and blue-eyed, with 
fine bronze skins, and some of them with great charm and 
openness of character. They are simple and loyal and 
generally treat the stranger with great courtesy and kind- 
ness. All the fishing boats are registered and numbered 
under the law and are controlled and watched over by 
the revenue cutters. Of course, there is much drinking 
among the men, as is to be expected. 

Scheveningen, the ancient fishing village, or rather 
what is left of it, is now joined to a very fashionable city 
of great hotels and ornate private villas. The village, it 
is said, dates from the fifteenth century, and singularly 
enough has retained in the few streets left in the old set- 

75 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

dement much of its ancient character, in spite of the great 
throng of summer tourists who visit it each year. The 
quaint huts of the fishermen are much as they were a hun- 
dred years ago, and if new ones are built, the original 
form is invariably copied. There are yet several curious 
narrow streets lined with these red-tiled, creamy-walled 
little houses, with bright green-painted doors, and lace- 
hung windows, at which appears above the invariable 
blooming pot of flowers the lace-capped face of a fur- 
tively peering peasant attracted by the noise of footsteps 
on the rough cobbled street. 

All about are piles of tarry nets, fishing baskets, and 
marine impediments in most picturesque confusion. 
The catch is particularly among the great schools of her- 
ring that feed off shore, and the daily departure of the 
fleet from the sands is a sight to be remembered. 

The old houses of the fishermen are in singular contrast 
with the air of modern luxury of the famous bathing re- 
sort terraced along the sand dunes, where stately hotels 
line the boulevard, which terminates in a long jetty, and 
a pavilion at its end. There is an imposing "Kurhaus" 
or Casino, with high cupolas decked with flags ; the crash- 
ing of bands, and cries of vendors fill the air with noise, 
and the beautiful sands spotted with the curious wicker 
chairs, which render it unique, are crowded with people 
from all over the world. Scheveningen is perhaps the 
most cosmopolitan bathing resort in the world, and it is 

76 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

certainly one of the most expensive. Here instead of 
francs one pays florins I 

In the season there is great interest in horse-racing. 
{Harddraverij, in Dutch.) There are fine tracks at Rot- 
terdam, at Amsterdam, at Woest-Duin near Haarlem, at 
Utrecht, and at Groningen. The sport has its organ, a 
weekly newspaper named Hippos. The scene at these 
races is often quite gay and animated, and considerable 
money changes hands through the presence of large num- 
bers of strangers from England and Belgium 

There are many rowing and sailing clubs, the principal 
one being under royal patronage and called "The Royal 
Dutch Rowing and Sailing Club," with headquarters at 
Amsterdam. The outer side of the Amstel is a favorite 
piece of water for the racing of small craft; while the Ij 
and the near-by Zuyderzee are used by larger boats. 
During the season several very successful regattas are 
held on the river Ij [Eye]. The official organ which 
may be studied for particulars is the Nederlandsche 
Sport. 

To the cycler, the signs everywhere seen through Hol- 
land bearing the word "Wielrijders" (cyclists) should be 
carefully regarded if followed by the word "Verboden" 
(forbidden), for the Dutchman is not always patient 
with the foreigner at any infringement of the law. The 
official touring club is called the "Alg. Ned. Wielrijders- 
bond." This is a most flourishing, well-established asso- 

77 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

elation, and under its laws has resulted in the manifest 
improvement of the roadways. All through the coun- 
try are seen sign and distance posts emblazoned with the 
familiar winged wheel, and fixed charges are maintained 
at the different hotels. The sign for the hotel is "Bonds- 
Hotel." The distances marked on the post are in kilo- 
meters. The automobile of course is now a common 
sight through Holland. I well remember my own ex- 
perience in the first machine perhaps which the "VoUen- 
dammers" had ever seen and which came up from Amster- 
dam purposely to deposit me at "Spaander's," and the 
throngs of excited peasants, shaken for the nonce out of 
their usual apathy. The machine was a noisy red one, an 
early model, and the petroleum gases forming in the ex- 
haust suddenly igniting went off with the noise of a small 
cannon, at which the excited Mynheers promptly with- 
drew their hands from their capacious pockets, shut their 
eyes, closed their mouths, and seizing their children by 
the shoulder or anything they could get hold of, promptly 
fled to a safe distance. Me they regarded as a being 
miraculously endowed with unheard-of courage and pro- 
tected by the wing of some sweet little cherub from his 
seat up aloft, and as such entitled to a new distinction 
and respect. The chauffeur, capped and goggled, they 
regarded as some sort of monster, removed from their 
ken, and when he gruffly spoke to them in their own 
tongue, they refused to believe the evidence of their ears 

78 



A Dutch Go-Cart 



^— v) \\_.,,\t\ 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

and only stared, and when he turned the machine with 
great skill in the narrow roadway by the canal and opened 
the throttle, vanishing noisily in a cloud of dust, they re- 
mained standing one and all spellbound and speechless, 
so that I had to carry my own traps to the little stairway 
which I mounted and along the raised pathway until I 
met the hospitable Spaander, who welcomed me with 
open arms. But the Dutchman is now very familiar with 
the automobile and regards it with a certain degree of con- 
tempt, considering it only in the light of its occupants 
and as furnishing him with extra guldens. Indeed, the 
demands of the modern Dutchman upon the "gulden" of 
the inexperienced traveler are only limited by the latter's 
willingness to disgorge. This will be, I think, sufficient 
warning. 

Intending visitors to Holland in the winter will do 
well to join one of the skating clubs to be found in every 
town, as the sport is most popular throughout the country. 
Nearly all the larger clubs are members of the Dutch skat- 
ing association, or the "Nederlandsche Schaatsenrijders- 
bond," at Groningen. The Hollanders learned to skate 
from the Romans, and examples of the earliest skates 
which they used may be seen in the different museums. 
They were made of bones, smoothed and polished to a flat 
surface, and were tied to the feet with strings. The 
scene on the rivers and canals in the winter is a most ani- 
mated and interesting one, and the Dutch are com.pletely 

79 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

transformed. No sooner does the ice bear than the whole 
people begin to glide and swirl to the poetry of motion. 
The canals then become the real streets. The sounds of 
discordant organs from the merry-go-round are heard 
everywhere, and over all is the pungent odor of the stale 
grease from the "Poffertjes" and "Wafelen" booths, pre- 
sided over by fat, bare-armed "Vrouwes," who make them 
with indescribable rapidity for the ravenous peasants. 
The first are little round pancaky blobs, twisted, cooked 
in hot grease and covered with butter and sugar. The 
"Wafelen" are oblong wafers stamped thinly in an iron 
mold, fried, and also buttered and sugared. It is eti- 
quette to eat two dozen "Poffertjes" and two of "Waf- 
elen" at the first order. Afterward you may eat as many 
as you wish. A thin, sour beer is drunk with them, or a 
sickly, sweet lemonade. To eat them is one's duty. To 
watch the cooking is a fascination. They are made by 
hundreds at once over a brisk charcoal fire and one can 
smell the odor of grease for miles. The cook busies her- 
self in twisting the little dabs of pasty dough into the 
molds and dumping out those that are cooked. One may 
see pictures in the museums painted by Jan Steen show- 
ing the operation. The peasants stand in rows before 
these booths, eating the dainties. They are very noisy, 
and while one sees but little drunkenness, there is very 
little real revelry. The Dutch take their pleasures very 
stolidly, and the great evidence of the "festa" is the glare 

80 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

of the naphtha lamps and the loud, blaring notes of the 
steam organs. The Dutchman, when he wearies of skat- 
ing in the winter, seats himself with his "meisje" by his 
side on the backs of the most wonderfully carved and 
brilliantly painted elephants, camels, horses, or griffons, 
in the "carrousels," or merry-go-rounds, and will ride for 
hours at a time with staring eyes and open mouth in a sort 
of trance, until he is pulled off forcibly by the owner of 
the machine and made to pay up. There are numerous 
sideshows on the banks with alleged two-headed boys, 
giant females, dwarf ponies, etc., presided over by loud- 
tongued barkers, but the devotee of the sport will prefer 
to leave these scenes behind and glide along out into the 
country districts over the smooth ice in company with the 
brilliantly costumed and bright-cheeked peasantry, arriv- 
ing perchance at the next town in time for dinner, which 
should be ordered in advance unless the town is a large 
one. The skating carnival is generally the cause of 
many weddings among the peasantry, and if one is so 
happy as to be present at one of these a most inter- 
esting experience may be enjoyed. Thursday is the 
peasants' day for the ceremony, for on this day the fees 
are very small. My Dutch friend says that on other days 
it is "largely expensive" to be married. The "Koster" 
complains bitterly of the present economical tendency 
which induces so many young couples to dispense with the 
religious ceremony in favor of the civic marriage. My 

81 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

Dutch friend further explains that there are several dis- 
tinct decorative ceremonies at church, ranging in price 
from say four guilders to twenty-five, and for the latter 
figure there are carpets and artificial flowers and trap- 
pings galore. On Thursdays, then, there are generally a 
number of couples at the church waiting their turn. The 
happy bride is brought in a high-backed tilbury, if in the 
country, the interior of which is decorated with two large 
mirrors in the shape of hearts lavishly trimmed with arti- 
ficial white flowers, where she sits admiringly contem- 
plated by the party. The ceremony is rattled through 
with great rapidity, after which the peasants depart to 
the nearest hotel in procession, the groom in full evening 
dress, and with a stolid, seemingly bored expression. 
He consumes vast quantities of beer, all paid for by his 
companions on this occasion until the hour of the ban- 
quet. This, it is explained, is the second ceremony, for 
when the preliminaries of an engagement are decided 
upon, a betrothal dinner is held. The friends are in- 
vited to the wedding by the present of a box of sweets, or 
maybe a bottle of wine, popularly known as "bride's 
tears" ("Bruidstranen"). On the day of the wedding, 
the whole party imbibe generously of a certain brand of 
this wine which contains small floating particles of gold- 
leaf. They afterward dance and carouse for the balance 
of the night. 

There are many other strange customs pertaining to 
82 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

the ceremony, but perhaps they may well be left to the 
imagination. I was invited to one ceremony which 
seemed so peculiar that I cannot refrain from describing 
it. On this occasion I happened to meet with the U. S. 
Consul, an American friend, who invited me to go with 
him to witness a civil ceremony of marriage, which he said 
was most singular according to our ideas. When we ar- 
rived at the house, the ceremony had begun. The happy 
couple were standing together before the burgomaster, 
who was empowered to perform the service. I could not 
understand quite all that was being said, but when it was 
over, the bride, who was gorgeously arrayed with a 
wreath of flowers about her lace cap, through the meshes 
of which shone a magnificent beaten gold head-dress with 
pendant diamond sparks at each side of her rosy face, and 
with many strings of coral beads about her throat, her 
figure arrayed in the Zeeland costume, shook hands first 
with the groom, then with the burgomaster, and disap- 
peared from view into a back room with her girl com- 
panions. The groom then drank off a large goblet of 
warm, sweet champagne, the temperature and quality of 
which I discovered when my own glass was filled. 
Round after round of wine was consumed and huge slices 
of dark, soggy fruit cake were passed about, until in des- 
peration and hidden by the crowd, in self-defense I emp- 
tied my brimming goblet surreptitiously on the floor. I 
managed to ask the consul, whisperingly, to explain. 

83 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

He said that the bridegroom was in South Africa and un- 
able to be present; that the couple wished to be married at 
once ; that he had sent for the bride to come to him, and 
as it was contrary to etiquette for the bride to go to him 
unmarried, the bridegroom's brother acted as proxy, and 
that the young damsel, now a blushing bride, would sail 
by the steamer from Amsterdam for Natal the following 
morning. The usual custom of an all-night celebration 
then progressed. Then ensued dancing to the music 
of a discordant band, and the constant eating and drink- 
ing among non-dancers went on. We all signed our 
names in a large book, and I was most hospitably urged 
to remain for the night as a distinguished guest. My 
friend, the consul, told me that this wedding by proxy 
was not an unusual ceremony, but I had never heard 
of it before. There is an old saying in Holland that 
there are only two things a girl chooses herself — "her 
potatoes and her lover." They see each other at the 
"Kermis" and then the lad feels his heart's desire. So 
he puts on all his best clothes and bravely goes to her 
parents' house. The father and mother give him wel- 
come, the girls smile and nudge each other, and no one 
refers to the purpose of his visit, though of course they 
well know why he has come. At last they all retire from 
the room, even the father and mother, and the two are 
left alone beside the fire. They discuss everything but 
the subject at heart. Not a word of love is uttered, but 

84 



ART, ANCIENT AND MODERN 

mark you, if she does not feed the fire on the hearth and 
it dies down, it is a hint that she does not care for him, 
but if she heaps piles of fuel on the fire, he knows that 
she loves him and means to accept him for her husband, 
and he knows that it is all right, and from that day for- 
ward he is accepted as one of the family. The engage- 
ment is for a year or two, more or less, and I am told they 
are permitted to go everywhere alone and amuse them- 
selves without criticism or interference on the part of 
the parents. 



85 



44 



W^ ftolloto %m\^'' 



Sf^HE' traveler is recommended above all to enter 
flu Holland by way of Flushing in Zeeland, as the 
^■•^ island of Walcheren now retains more of the old 
costumes and the original types of peasantry than per- 
haps any other of the provinces. The picturesque cos- 
tumes of the women, with their queer head-dresses and 
flashing gold and silver cap ornaments (Hoofdijzers), 
show to great advantage and impress the tourist with the 
strange antiquity of the people. The milkmaid going 
her round with utensils burnished like silver and gold 
and sparkling in the sunlight; the patient dogs drawing 
the little two-wheeled green carts laden with brass milk 
cans; the curious carvings on the dark, leaning house 
fronts; the funny little mirrors (spui) outside at each 
window, showing to those within the passer-by; the busy 
"huisvrouw" cleansing the footway before her dwelling 
or sweeping the already immaculate bricks of the road- 
way; the sweet, soft, jangling chime of the bells in the 
"Grootekerk" with its lofty tower of four stages, dating 
from the fourteenth century; the gaudily painted brown- 
sailed fishing craft, manned by the stolid, broad-beamed 
Dutchmen, are all sights which will impress one most 

86 



"THE HOLLOW LAND" 

strangely. The town of Flushing, or "Vlissingen," is 
situated about a mile from the harbor. This walk is most 
entertaining. There is a huge dial raised on the dyke 
showing the height of the water in the river Scheldt, a 
dial resembling a clock and with the letters "A. P." on it. 
In Dutch this means "Amsterdamsche Peil," and shows 
highwater mark at Amsterdam. Here is the town hall on 
the "Hout Kade," erected in 1733; formerly the mansion 
of a wealthy citizen, it was adapted to its present use 
after the English destroyed the other by bombardment. 
Now we come upon a curious house across a bridge of 
boats. It is adorned with the figures of the Graces. 
Then down a street lined with large beautiful chestnut 
trees to the very heart of old Flushing. Here we find 
the peasant women gathered in the "Oude Markt," all 
busily chaffering and wrangling over their various com- 
modities. Across the canal to the "Beurs Plein," to the 
"Rotonde" on the sea front, with its lighthouse and a 
raised walk upon which is a fine bronze statue of Admiral 
De Ruyter, who was born here in 1607. His father was 
a ropemaker, but his mother descended from a noble fam- 
ily. It was from here that De Ruyter's fleet sailed out 
to attack the English fleet. The circular tower was built 
in 1563 and was once the chief gate of old Flushing. 

The island of Walcheren [pronounced Val-kara] is 
about ten miles in length and eight miles in breadth and 
has played a most important part in Dutch and English 

87 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

history, and its story many years further back is full of 

interest. 

"Among the quicksands of storm-beaten Walachria, that won- 
drous Normandy came into existence whose wings were to sweep 
over all the high places of Christendom. Out of these creeks, la- 
gunes, and almost inaccessible sand banks, these bold free-booters 
sailed forth on their forays against England, France, and other 
adjacent countries, and here they brought and buried the booty of 
many a wild adventure. Here at a later day Rollo the Dane had 
that memorable dream of leprosy, the cure of which was the con- 
version of North Gaul into Normandy, of pagans into Christians, 
and the subsequent conquest of every throne in Christendom from 
Ultima Thule to Byzantium" ("United Netherlands"). 

As to its connection with English history, every school- 
boy has heard of the Walcheren expedition in 1809, when 
the Earl of Chatham was sent with troops to destroy the 
naval arsenal which Napoleon was creating in Antwerp, 
The incompetent English general, instead of carrying out 
the object of the expedition, stopped en route to take 
Flushing, in consequence of which Napoleon had suffi- 
cient time to put Antwerp in a state of defense, while 
7,000 English soldiers left in charge of Walcheren even- 
tually perished of marsh fever and £20,000,000, the cost 
of the expedition, was sacrificed. 

Flushing has made a magnificent endeavor to become a 
great port, and it is hard to understand why it has not 
succeeded. The map of Holland will show at a glance 
that its position is unequaled, and millions of guilders 
have been spent on its harbor works and docks. Steam- 

88 



"THE HOLLOW LAND" 

ers leave here regularly for Hull and different parts of 
the continent. The magnificent harbor is divided into 
three parts, known as the outer port, and the first and 
second inner ports. The outer port comprises about 
thirty-two acres and it is said has a depth of twenty-one 
feet at low water; a canal twenty- four feet deep connects 
the harbor with Middelburg and Veere, cutting the island 
of Walcheren into two parts. The town is sheltered by 
great dykes from the north and northeast winds and the 
ever-changing sea. To the left is the coast of South 
Flanders, some of its villages being easily discernible. 
To the north are the downs with red-tiled farmhouses 
dotted here and there. To the northeast one gets a 
glimpse of Biggekerke and Koudekerke, two villages 
well worth visiting, by the way. There is a little steam 
tram running between Flushing and Middelburg, four 
miles away, but a pleasanter way of making the journey 
is to take the little steamer running at frequent intervals 
through the canal, in company with the gaily dressed 
peasantry to or from their way to market. In this way a 
better idea of the country people may be had. 

Middelburg was in the Middle Ages one of the richest 
and most flourishing cities of the Netherlands, as may be 
seen from its well-built houses, once the homes of mer- 
chant princes, and from its spacious docks and waterways. 
Its municipal charter, dated 1213, is said to be one of the 
oldest documents of the kind in existence. It was a great 

89 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

market for wool, and was crowded with merchants from 
all parts of Europe, especially from England, Italy, 
Spain, and Portugal. Its intercourse with other nations 
led to a large trade in wine. All wines coming from 
Spain and France, for example, for consumption in Hol- 
land and Germany had to pass through Middelburg and 
pay a heavy duty there. In 1572 Middelburg was the 
last place in Zeeland occupied by the Spanish. It capitu- 
lated to the Zeelanders in 1574. 

Middelburg has been called the most representative 
town in Holland. On Thursday, which is market day, 
there is great opportunity of studying the Zeeland peas- 
ants, for it is upon this day that they flock in from the 
country after their labors of the week. Their dress is 
peculiar, most picturesque, and perhaps the most elab- 
orate in Holland. Both sexes wear a great many quaint 
beaten silver ornaments, which may be purchased from 
them sometimes, but for which they usually ask twice the 
value. There are many little silverware shops in Mid- 
delburg where may be found the quaint old Dutch spoons 
such as are described by Thackeray In "A Roundabout 
Paper." On market days these shops are thronged with 
peasants, purchasing the curious Zeeland silver buttons 
and buckles. These are made of silver wire in concentric 
circles which are soldered to Its base, and are quite mod- 
erate In price. The eating at the hotels here Is not very 
good from our standpoint. The traveler will find a su* 

90 




■ :S?!I ,'. ^' ■ -> " 



w«ssiaaHHHS<HriiB*Tr..M)H<' 



M'lddelburg — The Kermis 



I'vwva^ ^s\T — ^•\«<i\^VsiisM. 




fS^ic.,^ 



"THE HOLLOW LAND" 

perabundance, as well as many kinds, of cheese. There 
is cheese with caraway seeds and cheese without, soft 
cheese, hard cheese, yellow cheese, red cheese, green 
cheese, and white cheese, not to speak of certain very 
odorous dark brown cheese, the merits of which I am un- 
able to specify. The bread is generally good. Of the 
meat I cannot say as much. My Dutch friend tells me 
that mutton is hard to get and I afterwards found it so, 
and the reason he gives is that sheep are killed only when 
they cease to be valuable for wool-bearing, and lamb on 
the table is an almost unheard-of rarity. Veal is the 
great staple, and is served in all manner of forms and is 
generally well cooked. The soup, which is good, is plen- 
tifully besprinkled, especially in the north, with cinna- 
mon; it is rather full of greasy "eyes" and contains forced 
meat balls or tiny sausages. To a hungry man who has 
spent the day sight-seeing this food is more or less palat- 
able and is generally served with a huge flagon of beer. 
The dining-rooms away from the cities in the small towns 
are invariably redolent of tobacco, for the Dutch are great 
smokers, from the boy of five in the street to the nona- 
genarian. Eggs are always eaten cold for breakfast and 
are served in a huge bowl in the shell with various kinds 
of cheeses sliced and crumbled, a pot of boiling water, 
and a little caddy full of tea with which one is supposed 
to make his own tea. After a few essays at tea-making 
the tourist is expected to become quite expert, but my own 

91 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

experiences are fresh in my mind and are too unsuccessful 
to dwell upon here. 

In studying Zeeland [pronounced "Sayland"], the 
traveler would better make his headquarters at Middel- 
burg rather than at Flushing, for I found the hotel dis- 
tinctly better at the first-named town, and its situation is 
certainly fascinating — occupying as it does one side of 
the delightful and quiet square enclosed by the walls of 
the Abdij [Abbey], as the Dutch oddly spell it. There, 
amid a grove of trees, one has a glimpse of delicate spires 
and a charming facade — the headquarters of the present 
Provincial Council, who, meeting in a fifteenth-century 
hall, have had the temerity and taste (or lack of it) to 
furnish it with "art nouveau" furniture. A proverb of 
the Middelburger reads "Goed rond, goed Zeuwsch"; 
that is, "well rounded, very Zeelandish," and certainly 
many of the inhabitants bear it out, and the shape of the 
town as well, as it curves about the "Abdij." Here one 
notices for the first time the peculiar appearance of the 
women, who are comely, red-cheeked, and otherwise quite 
delightful to behold in their lace-frilled caps and bright 
shawls. The peculiarity is in the color of their arms. 
The sleeves of their waists are cut off high above the el- 
bow and so tightly worn that the bare arm from thence 
down seems bursting from the pressure above, and ex- 
panding, takes on the color of a ripe reddish plum mot- 

92 



"THE HOLLOW LAND" 

tied with delicate violet tints — most unpleasant to the 
sight. 

Middelburg presents a bright and happy exterior. 
There is everywhere the aspect and evidence of fresh 
paint; even the tree-trunks and plaster casts of statuary 
in the gardens are touched up with the paint and white- 
wash brush. The doors are immaculately white, likewise 
the marble steps, reminding one (as elsewhere noted) of 
Philadelphia, and the shutters of the windows are orna- 
mented, often with a curious hour-glass-shaped, painted 
ornament, which I am informed is the conventional form 
of curtains draped back behind the glass, and it may be so. 
It is certainly quaint. Green paint is lavishly used too, 
and the freedom is sometimes questionable, but in the 
main the effect is pleasing from its very novelty. 

One is awakened in the morning by the profoundly 
plaintive music of the bells and carillon and of Long John 
(De lange Jan) in the tall tower of the Abbey at the 
"Nieuw Kerk." Day and night his voice is heard over 
Middelburg every seven and a half minutes, eight times 
in the hour. Think of it, forty-one bells every seven and 
a half minutes I Happy the man who can sleep under 
such a bombardment. As for me, I like it, for my student 
days were spent under the eaves in a small red-tile-floored 
room in Antwerp in the very shadow of the cathedral, 
and I love the bells, the beautiful silvery, deliberate, 

93 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

persistent chime. The chimes are played by small ham- 
mers which connect with a drum like that of a music-box, 
and this is revolved by the clock machinery. Here at 
Middelburg is another celebrity (Gekke Betje) Foolish 
Betsey — so called from her steady willfulness in disre- 
garding her obligations to Long John. Betsey is the 
great clock in the Stad-Huis, and is the pride of the town 
even though she will not keep correct time. 

One very curious custom will strike the traveler, that is 
the railing (generally of brass brightly polished) main- 
tained by every house owner across the side-walk in front 
of the house at each side of his property, making it im- 
possible for the passer-by to use it. My inquiries as to 
the meaning of this were answered by uplifted eyebrows, 
a stare, and a shrug of the shoulders, so I forbore. But 
the streets and houses are certainly an unending enter- 
tainment. There is something at every turn to charm 
one from its novelty and unusualness: a rosy-cheeked 
maid with her skirts tucked between her knees scrubbing 
the already seemingly immaculate door-step; a sleepy, 
fat baby in a low-wheeled box, while a puppy content- 
edly licks its pudgy face; a dog-cart filled with golden 
brass and ruddy copper milk cans ; a gathering of ancient 
lace-becapped women, placidly drinking tea in an arbor 
bearing the painted motto, ''Lust in Dust" (Pleasure in 
Rest) ; two hip-jacketed, wide-breeched peasant boys gaz- 
ing into each other's eyes in a sort of trance, and saying 

94 



"THE HOLLOW LAND" 

not one word while I watched them covertly for fully 
three minutes by the watch; the glint of sunlight on the 
patches of moss on the side of a moored barge in the canal, 
and the long reflections of its sails and cordage in the 
sluggishly moving water. There is an interesting mu- 
seum, bearing the sign "Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wet- 
enschappen," dedicated to the history of Zeeland, con- 
taining many shells and some stuffed birds ; Admiral Ruy- 
ter's wheel on which he made rope when a boy; the first 
telescope, made by Zacharias Jansen, the inventor; two 
of the first microscopes (1590) ; a room furnished in the 
Zeeland style of old, and other curious and interesting 
objects which may detain the visitor. The other towns 
of Walcheren, Westcapelle, Domburg, Arnemuiden, and 
Veere, can be easily reached from Middelburg on foot or 
conveyance, as one prefers. Of these, the most curious 
and charming is Veere — silent, dead, once the chief rival 
of Middelburg, but now well nigh deserted and aban- 
doned. 



95 



Vnn 



l^j^N ancient and decayed town" — so it is styled in the 
II few books that deign to mention it, and yet the 
^^ present writer makes bold to give up a whole chap- 
ter to its charms. 

The level embossed stretches of gray green plain and 
meadow, bounded by silvery water-ways, are quite domi- 
nated by the vast and mysterious gray tower which can 
be seen from any spot for miles around. This shows just 
where lies Veere. Napoleon made it his headquarters 
when he overran the Netherlands, and the people have 
never forgiven nor forgotten the desecration of its great 
old church which he used as a stable for his horses. A 
splendidly paved road leads to it across the island of 
Walcheren. This road [Grintwegen] is kept in admir- 
able repair, and toll is collected at both ends for a round 
trip, no matter whether one means to return that way or 
not. There are also secondary roadways [Straatwegen] 
paved with brick [klinkers] which are most welcom.e to 
horse and driver in showery weather. These roads are 
supplied with guide posts, and where there are dangerous 
marshy spots, they are indicated by warnings which sound 
oddly to strangers, as for instance "Gevaar-lyke-helling" 

96 



VEERE 

— which seems like profanity, and is intended perhaps to 
be emphatic. 

Pattering along one of these roadways during a gentle 
rainfall in the swinging, high-bodied Tilbury, with its 
quaint sashed windows of four panes, set in unnecessarily 
heavy white painted frames, and under a top that seemed 
built to last forever, we looked out over the drenched 
meadows, or over the capped head of the somnolent, red- 
faced driver, who sat on the small seat sideways much as 
if he were steering a boat, viewing the watery-straight 
road stretching along into the dim horizon now and again 
blocked out by the nodding head of the fat mare. We 
much preferred this mode of travel to the stage in which 
we might have made the journey. Something of snob- 
bery and quite exclusive, but the Dutch approve of it, and 
perhaps nowhere else would the expenditure of a sum 
equal to thrice the moderate stage fare bring about a like 
result as this extravagance of a private Tilbury on the 
three and a half mile journey from Middelburg to Veere. 

If you fancy history, you may trace for yourself the 
track of the invading Spaniards of this small island. 
Walcheren is jeweled all about with joys for the appre- 
ciative. Not a village hereabouts but has its quaint his- 
tory and individualism. The inhabitants have ever been 
famed for pluck and bravery. Philip of Spain they 
drowned out by flooding the dykes, and then they 
pumped out the water, and patched up the holes with sod. 

97 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

Quoth Philip: "If you want to conquer the men of 
Walcheren you must first cut off their arms and legs." 

The driver pointed out an old willow stump which he 
said was named "The Patroon." It is now but a hollow 
half shell, hardly more than bark and seeming charred 
and blackened by fire. "Round its girth," he says, "in 
my youth, four of us could not join hands." Its whole 
heart is gone, and it has the look of an upright roll of 
charred wrapping paper with great rents in its sides. 
This thin cylinder supports and succors three large 
branches with their weight of luxuriant foliage. This is 
the famed haunted willow tree, in which according to 
legend dwells the spook of a Spanish grandee, who terri- 
fies the belated peasantry on stormy or foggy nights with 
moans, and a phosphorescent display, but just why the 
ghost of a Spanish grandee should go to all this trouble 
after all these years the driver either could not or would 
not explain. 

Our questions were interrupted by the noise of a rat- 
tling black old stage-coach which overtook and passed 
us. It was laden with a bevy of rosy-cheeked peasant 
girls who for some unexplained reason regarded us as pro- 
vocative of mirth. As they passed us they laughed and 
shouted and waved their hands. 

Our driver, apparently stung by something they said, 
lets fly at them various strange sounding gutturals, at 
which they seem to shrink. He snaps his whip in the air, 

98 



Veere — The Return to Port 



no^\ o\ uns\'.5\. -iA'V — ■.yrv>,'-5, 



f j;WB»iUBJfJ»1llln» Tpm I 



M 



-^.iif 




VEERE 

and hurls at the grinning driver one bitter word laden 
with all the vehemence he can command, It sounded to 
me like "Verdamt koekbakkers I" The other's eyes 
blazed in wrath, and he whipped up his horses, and away 
they went. We were some distance farther on before I 
asked our driver what he had said. 

"Alst-u-blieft, mynheer," he replied — "I called them 
'Bakers' cats' " — and then his explanation, choked with 
indignation, became so involved and idiomatic that I 
quite lost the meaning of his words. Soon he lapsed into 
silence. Evidently our approach was heralded at Veere 
by the young girls whom he had so ungallantly styled 
"Bakers' cats," for when our Tilbury drew up to the 
door of the inn we had an escort of children who ranged 
themselves about us to celebrate our arrival in the 
high-waisted wagon, to the manifest exasperation of 
our driver. It may be that we presented a sufficiently 
strange appearance to warrant all this excitement, but the 
kindly and courteous welcome of the bowing and smiling 
landlord who received us at the open doorway was much 
to our relief, and we left the driver to settle matters with 
the boys and girls, with confidence in his vocabu- 
lary. . . . 

This little forgotten village seems asleep, but one hnds 
it a sort of senile sleep, with one eye cunningly open, and 
that to the main chance. The stranger within the gates 
is not overconscious of the espionage to which one is sub- 

99 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

jected. His comings and goings, seemingly ignored by 
the quaint populace, really are attended with much spec- 
ulation, and each detail of his movements carefully 
watched and recorded by one and all, whether indoors 
or out. 

Our promenade from the house which sheltered us to 
the ruined castle at the harbor mouth, was followed by 
dozens of curious eyes turned upon us from behind 
quaintly shuttered windows masked by festooned lace 
curtains. Outside mirrors cunningly set reflected us into 
those dimly lighted rooms, which we longed to penetrate. 
We found it a quaint pastime to walk close to the house 
fronts, and gazing into these little mirrors find our eager 
eyes met by a pair of calm ones whose scrutiny quite put 
us out of countenance for the time being. 

The village stands back somewhat from the harbor 
mouth, and the quiet canals that meander through the 
soft green of the rich meadows, seem aloof from the tur- 
bulence of the North Sea. The surrounding country is 
smooth and green, without undulations, and pleasant 
roads and paths strike through it in many directions, lead- 
ing to other quaint villages, which we have not yet vis- 
ited, nor are we in any haste to do so. "One should 
really leave something to the imagination," says Lady 
Anne. 

On these pleasant roads the song of the lark is fre- 
quently heard ; there are the grassy banks of the dykes all 

100 



VEERE 

clad in gay wild flowers, and on the meadows black and 
white cows are contentedly grazing. Here in this quiet 
locality nothing seems to happen. You may walk day by 
day encountering nothing more noteworthy than an occa- 
sional Tilbury drawn by a fat horse, whose head is car- 
ried sidewise so that he may constantly see the occupants 
of the wagon. Or maybe a troop of children laden with 
eel baskets, or perchance a melancholy funeral procession 
from some remote village with the mourners following the 
hearse on foot, as is the custom. 

Season follows season in most orderly fashion. All is 
unhurried, and placid, and somnolent. Time in Veere is 
measured by the chimes in the old tower on the market 
place. And their tinkling notes, always in tune, lull one 
to sleep after the sun goes down, for then Veere puts up 
its shutters, and fastens its doors. There's nought else 
to do, the mail is in, and the fire-master has lighted the 
lamp in the old tower at the harbor mouth. Mynheer 
smokes his iinal pipe, Mevrouwe drinks her last cup of 
tea, and the day thus ends. 

All of the houses are old — very old I On the f agades 
of faded brick may be seen remote dates, cast in iron by 
clever smiths; these are called "ancons," and many of 
them are real works of art. The trees are all old too, 
well mossed, and well cared for at the same time; count- 
less families of birds have bred and sung out their little 
lives in their branches. Centuries have come and gone 

101 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

over this little town, leaving no more trace than the snow- 
flakes of yesterday. The old castle is now inhabited by 
blackbirds and owls. The moat behind reflects its mel- 
lowed walls in dark water that never seems to have been 
disturbed; all is old. On that memorable day in August, 
1914, when the war lord overran Belgium, these placid 
old men, and these erect, austere, bare-armed women in 
their wonderful costumes, stood in the market-place, ex- 
changing the small talk of the moment, without the least 
suspicion that the day would be famous forever in his- 
tory. Thus Veere in the Walcheren has seen the trees 
bud, the apples ripen, and the tides rise and fall, and 
thus the time passes here. 

Sitting in the wide window of the room on the small 
square of the tinkling chimes, there is food for much 
thought. Here the old "Stathouders" sat on the narrow 
bench below, and smoked their pipes ruminatively; dis- 
cussed the news of the day from abroad and the price of 
cheese at home. The last ruddy rays of the setting sun 
glinted on the windows of the castle on the dyke end, as 
the great Admiral De Ruyter passed into the beyond. 
The two famous old houses "Het Lammetje" and "Het 
Struis" dated a. d. 1500, and the lofty Town Hall, ante- 
dating them twenty-five or thirty years, eloquently voice 
the glories of the past. These staunch walls, built be- 
fore the time of Shakespeare, have witnessed what his- 
tories unrecorded? The soil itself is of course prehis- 

102 



VEERE 

toric, but these heavy stone and brick walls affect one 
strangely because of the human hands that constructed 
them, now long turned to dust. 

As with other towns in Zeeland, since we first hap- 
pened on them, we found Veere gradually growing more 
quaint, interesting, and yes, somehow more beautiful. 
It consists simply of a very old castle at the harbor mouth, 
a few straggling streets; some old, old houses, and an 
older Town Hall built by the great Keldermans, who 
constructed those lovely architectural masterpieces at 
Louvain, at Oudenaarde, and at Brussels in Belgium. 
The old town, sometimes dimmed in a blue haze of peat 
smoke, lies embossed upon an emerald shield, studded 
and lined with silvery waterways. Banks of wild flow- 
ers are at almost every green painted housedoor. From 
the upper windows of the Town Hall, Veere can be seen 
in a few glances. Nought can look more tranquil. 
About the smoky chimneys the swifts fly gracefully, and 
the slowly moving brown arms of the windmills of Myn- 
heer Perck show that both he and his two lusty sons are at 
work. A chance passing sunbeam illumines momentarily 
a whitewashed wall at the end of the street where the 
willows are thickest, and below a young woman in a 
blue striped skirt bears, from a green yoke on her shoul- 
ders, a pair of brightly burnished brass milk cans, her 
strong arms showing red in the sunlight as she swings lus- 
tily along over the rough stones. It makes a quaint pic- 

103 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

ture filled with mellow golden and misty blue tones 
which quite charms from the painter's viewpoint. 

The soft summer light is over all these mellow toned 
roofs of old rose and gray. Everywhere one sees quaint 
vistas, hears the drowsy hum of the old mill, and smells 
the scent of blossoms and sweet green grass. True, there 
are sometimes wafted hither evil odors from the muddy 
mouth of the old harbor, but these interest us not at all. 
Have I not elsewhere said that this is a journey of senti- 
ment? 

In a most delightful little book called "The Log of the 
Ladybird" is the following description of this sleepy 
town: "Veere was once a large and thriving town; the 
huge church which has never been finished, looks deso- 
late, the place having shrunk away to almost a hamlet, 
though the grass grown walls, standing out far in the 
fields, mutely testify to its old magnificence. The Town 
Hall is a delightful little building, with a high pointed 
roof and a double row of fantastic dormer windows ; the 
front is carved like that of Middelburg, with statues, and 
a tower, the most graceful we have yet seen, finishes 
up as usual with a bulb and bells, a golden ship crown- 
ing the whole. A tiny harbor runs up the main street, 
which is overgrown with grass and very 'knobbly.' . . . 
Drowsiness reigns supreme. During the War of Inde- 
pendence the hatred between the Dutch and Spanish 
seemed to culminate at Veere, where a heart cut from a 

104 



Veere — The Town Hall 



WfttS. mose'V 




.-«tF&l.<£JM1 



VEERE 

Spanish prisoner was nailed on a vessel's prow, and the 
townsmen invited to come and fix their teeth in it I" 

But Veere has long since forgotten those bloody days 
of the Spanish War. 

Lady Anne, who was with me, says that "Never yet was 
monarch's robe so velvety as the old green mossy bank 
.of the canal, on which shines the evening sun." So se- 
cluded is this old town of Veere, that the only thing that 
connects it with the world outside is the canal, and the 
long level white road stretching towards Middelburg. 
Sometimes a fat horse will appear lazily trailing a high 
pooped barge, on the long tiller of which will be seated a 
ruminating Dutchman smoking a long stemmed pipe. 
Noislessly they come and go, these amphibians ; up and 
down go the "weep" [wip] bridges, and the "Draaj" 
bridges slide, to let them pass. At each of these stopping 
places is a "tapperij" where schnapps and geneva are to 
be had, and this is a famous place to tarry listening to the 
gossip. At first they were rather mystified at the pres- 
ence of the stranger, and conversation languished. But 
before many days had passed. Mynheer, the American 
and his lady had persuaded them of their amity, and the 
sketch book had quite disarmed them. We were thence- 
forth good friends, and welcomed whenever we chose to 
stop there. 

But it was the old ruin of the castle which most at- 
tracted us. Its roof had fallen in here and there, and the 

105 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

old part which had been the chapel is quite dangerous 
to walk in. Gone is the colored glass of the window, to- 
gether with the incense, the deep organ notes of the serv- 
ice, and the crimson clad priests, as well as the meek 
monks who piously prayed, shrived sinners, and emblaz- 
oned those wondrous parchments now enshrined in the 
Town Hall. The people of Veere have little or no re- 
spect for the ruin, and we were not able to raise one sin- 
gle story of a ghost, or even a haunted chamber. 

Dukes, duchesses and lords of high degree once inhab- 
ited these lofty ceiled rooms ; knights clad in mail, their 
squires bearing their crested shields at right hand, have 
here presented their tokens of fealty. What an array of 
ghosts it is that one conjures up in this dusty hall I And 
now it is without honor, without interest save to the 
chance stranger or the eccentric antiquary. Veere vene- 
rates it not, but A and I sat there on the dusty bench 

peopling the rooms with shades of those who are long 
dead. Fathers, mothers, husbands and wives, men and 
women living lives of truth and honor; knights in armor 
righting wrongs of tender maidens; charity, lust, affec- 
tion, penitence, warfare and peace. All these passed be- 
fore us in our imaginings. . . . Grave and stern still 
stands this ancient castle at Veere, silent and empty 
enough now. 

Veere as a town has but few intellectual needs or de- 
sires, and so the amusements are regulated by the de- 

106 



VEERE 

mand. There is a schoolroom on the square where enter- 
tainments are occasionally given, such as a "Cinnema," 
(as the "movies" are called here) and these are very pop- 
ular. Here also public meetings, such as are not official 
in character, are held. Lecturers are always welcomed, 
especially those who illustrate by means of colored charts 
or pictures. Their statements are always received with 
a most respectful attention, for the audience, though lis- 
tening breathlessly, rarely understands much of what is 
said. Suffice it that the pastor occupies his seat, and that 
the postmaster and his wife (who was the sister of the late 
Burgomaster) are present. Veere is then content, and 
the lecture is voted by all a great success. Then there is 
the Sunday sermon which is faithfully attended by almost 
all. The people of Veere are, of course, Protestants, and 
so these simple people are content to worship in an un- 
gainly bare building, seated on hard, painted, cushionless 
pews, with little or nothing to stir the imagination, no 
painted glass, no chorus of sweet voices rising in stimu- 
lating strains, neither silken clad priest, nor censor swing- 
ing acolyte^ nothing but what may be called the bare 
skeleton of religion is here erected by these austere peo- 
ple. And so Veere, the deadest town in all Zeeland, 
sleeps the year round. I like to remember it as I first 
beheld it, its many westward looking windows gilded by 
the setting sun ; its picturesquely clad children romping 
in the quaint old square; the white coiffed women knit- 

107 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

ting in the open doorways, and the men gathered on the 
pier heads and the dyke end in motionless groups. 
Against the rosy sky, the great squat tower of the church 
standing like a rock with clouds of rooks flying about its 
crest, and the long lines of small red roofed houses emerg- 
ing here and there from the clustering pale green wil- 
lows. 

Domburg, away to the westward, is a small bath- 
ing resort, reached by steam tram via Koude- 
kerke from Middelburg. At Domburg the men bathe 
to the right, women to the left. An ancient and 
picturesque man, clad in red flannel and armed with 
a fog-horn, parades the sands as master of ceremonies and 
recalls the adventurous bather. He bears on his back in 
white letters the word "Badman," but this does not, I am 
sure, refer to his character, but to his vocation. The 
"Bad Hotel," too, belies its name. It is, on the con- 
trary, excellent in every way though expensive, and there 
are several other good hotels here, too. 

The traveler may now return to Middelburg and 
Flushing and take train for Rotterdam by way of Dor- 
trecht, passing through Arnemuiden. The train crosses 
an embankment over the Scheldt, the last glimpse of the 
gigantic church of Veere vanishes in the distance, and 
Goes (pronounced "Hoo-ez") on the island of South 
Beveland, with its red roofs, orchards, and lofty church 
spire, is seen. Now the train enters North Brabant, 

108 




Goes — On the JVay to Market 



\ 1 A *«M* W Jt>*^\?^ ■is AV'<^©i»— ??^*^ Ji ' 



VEERE 

crossing an arm of the sea, and arriving at Bergen-op- 
zoom, a dull little town with a heavy-towered church, 
passes on to Dortrecht. 

Dort, as the Dutch lovingly call it, "that most pic- 
turesquely deep-dyed of the Dutch towns," stands on an 
island separated from the mainland during the flood in 
1421 and is the most ancient of Dutch towns, dating from 
the tenth century. ^ There is a very comfortable small 
hotel on the quay, "The Bellevue," where the eccentric 
Whistler and Van's Gravesande and I spent many happy 
evenings together some years ago, watching the shipping 
on the river and discussing art, life, and things — eheu 
fugaces. It was here that the experience of this erratic 
genius with the fishwives told of in another chapter took 
place. The view of the old river from the windows of 
the hotel is most entertaining, with its possession of 
"tjalks" and barges, and the mill opposite with its wav- 
ing brown-sailed arms. Dort's leaning houses, we are 
told by the engineers, are the result of design, but 
whether or not, they are most alarmingly curious, for one 
may almost reach^across certain of the streets from house 
to house at the upper windows and clasp hands with one's 
neighbors. Certainly no other town occupies its place 
with calmer placidity, nor perhaps has any other so me- 
dieval an aspect. The canal, far below the street level 
is crossed with a multitude of bridges. Quainter than 
Amsterdam, it is the nearest in resemblance to Venice, 

109 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

and there are flights of steps to the water edge, to the 
moored boats where the loud voiced iisherwomen wran- 
gle and wash clothes, and where ancient brick walls green 
and mossy rise from the canals, and everywhere is bright 
green paint, growing flowers in window boxes, caged 
starlings and placid pussy cats sitting beneath them on 
the sills of the windows. Barges are constantly passing 
and the presence of the stranger is unnoticed, nor does his 
easel or white umbrella awaken more than passing inter- 
est, for the people are used to artists. On the Wijnstraat 
are some good examples of the quaint houses of the Han- 
seatic period with roofs rising in curious steps. The Pic- 
ture Gallery is in the Linden Gracht, and there is a South 
African Museum adjoining it. The Groot Hoofd Poort 
is a picturesque gateway, dating from 1682, of red brick 
enriched with rococco escutcheons, lions, and heads. In- 
side is a sixteenth-century Dutch room paneled in oak, 
and here are also some fine banners of the ancient guilds. 
The Groot'Kirk is one of the most interesting churches in 
Holland. The choir and east end are boarded up and 
discarded. And whisper 1 1 saw once the family washing 
hung up on a line to dry behind the altar screen — true, 

it was on a week-day, but nevertheless The organ, 

it is said, has three manuals and 63 stops. There is a fine 
white marble pulpit (1756) . The screen was erected in 
1744. The carved choir stalls, which were willfully 
damaged during the Reformation, are considered the fin- 

110 



VEERE 

est in Holland. They are by Aertz, a native of Dort. I 
was asked to notice particularly the "Triumph," which 
depicts the Christ and a sort of chariot in which is Satan 
lying bound. The other panels were more interesting to 
me, however. In the "Munt Poort" on Voor Straat are 
some fine Renaissance decorations. Dort was the birth- 
place of Albert Cuyp, Nicholas Maes, and Ferdinand 
Bol, the famous painters. There is a statue of Ary 
Scheffer, the artist, who was born here. His pictures, 
too, may be seen in the Wijnstratt at the museum. 

A good deal of business is carried on. Great rafts of 
timber which are made up on the Rhine in Germany are 
usually broken up here and disposed of — many of the 
large windmills about the town are used to saw them up 
into boards. 

Founded in the eleventh century, Dort was of consid- 
erable importance in the Middle Ages by reason of its cus- 
toms. All products brought into Holland had to pay 
duty at Dort until the envy of Rotterdam succeeded in 
obtaining a portion of the trade. The first Congress of 
the Netherlands Commonwealth was held here in 1572, 
and while proffering loyalty to the king, determined to 
uphold the policy of William of Orange. This was a 
momentous gathering in the history of this distressful 
country. The great religious Congress, or Synod, of 
Dort sat here for nearly two years (1618-19). The 
Synod cost a colossal sum in expenses, and was said to be 

111 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

less inspired by Christian love than any meeting ever 
held in the name of religion. There is a most pictur- 
esque gateway on the quay of dull red brick with quaint 
floriations in the Dutch Rococo style, and a dome dated 
1682. The many escutcheons, lions' heads, and orna- 
ments are well worth studying. The museum inside, 
too, will repay one. There are old chests, unique large 
models of galleons full-rigged, and a Noah's Ark full of 
animals. There are also many cases of old silver turnip 
watches, and jewelry, and great silken faded banners of 
the ancient guilds. 

Charming days may be passed round about old Dort. 
Loitering on the banks of the picturesque river Merwede, 
one notes in the distance the square tower of the old 
church rising above the dark thick trees of the town. 
The river life is very busy and animated with the pass- 
ing barges, and the small steamers belching forth vol- 
umes of heavy brownish smoke from their thick squatty 
funnels. One passes "Beneden Merwede" and the "kill 
of Dordrecht" with " 's Gravendeel" set like a jewel 
amid the flat, rush bordered green meadows. The vil- 
lage street descends to the river, with small red tiled 
houses of delightful character, and dominated by a large 
gray old windmill with furiously revolving arms. Then 
there is the "Oude Maas" River, crowded with sails and 
great rafts, and lined with charming villages inhabited 
by fishermen, between the "Ijsselmonde" and the fertile 

112 



Goes- — Jn Oyster Girl 



»1iTTrA1fw--> 



VEERE 

"Hoekschenwaard," towards the "Nieuwe Maas." 
Then "Vlaardingen," the market for the great herring 
fishery, one of the most important industries of the Neth- 
erlands. The fleet here numbers in the neighborhood of 
one hundred and twenty-five or thirty vessels, occupying 
and employing about fifteen hundred men. This and 
"Maasluis" are the greatest fish markets in the country. 
Rotterdam is reached by rail or steamer, the latter 
means being the more interesting, in about an hour and 
a half. Of its 200,000 inhabitants, one-quarter are said 
to be Roman Catholics, and there are about 7,000 Jews to 
be reckoned with in trade. It is named from its situa- 
tion on the Rotte ; that is, the Dam on the Rotte. It may 
be described as a most novel and picturesque medley of 
water, trees, curious drawbridges and vessels. One may 
loiter for hours upon the Boompjes (so called because of 
its row of beautiful trees, boompjes being the Dutch for 
trees, or little trees) , which is the place "where merchants 
most do congregate." There is great animation and 
color everywhere — the streets are alive with people, so 
that one can realize the fact that Rotterdam has a popula- 
tion of over 200,000. The multitudinous drawbridges 
are being constantly raised or lowered to let the brightly 
and picturesquely painted barges pass, and the delay is 
most cheerfully borne by the halted pedestrian. While 
it is not a particularly clean or pleasant city to visit it is 
very cosmopolitan. Its chief claim to fame is that it was 

113 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

the birthplace of Erasmus, and his bronze statue may be 
seen in the Groote Markt surrounded by fruit stands and 
jostling, scolding, chattering peasant women. Another 
illustrious son is that exquisite painter, Pieter de Hooch, 
who died at Haarlem in 1681. He excelled in his man- 
agement of light. Sunlight diffused is one of his myste- 
rious gifts to art; his pictures are bathed in it. The 
traveler may linger here in Rotterdam for a few hours at 
any rate, and visit "Boymans' Museum," where he will 
find some good pictures, and at the "Museum voor Ge- 
schiedenes en Kunst" a fine collection of old furniture, 
glass. Delft ware, and weapons. The church of St. 
Lawrence has no equal in the country; its somber gray 
tower quite dominates. There is a typical great wind- 
mill on the "Cool Singel," some storks in the Zoo, and a 
most picturesque and busy river. 

Lucas says "All Dutch towns are amphibious," but 
some are more watery than others. He says, too, that 
they do not swim in their waters, and this I can vouch 
for, but they certainly do wash everything else in sight; 
such a splashing and a dousing as goes on from morning 
till night can be seen nowhere else in the world. Lady 
Mary Wortley Montagu sent an interesting letter to the 
.Countess de Mar in 1716 from here. She says: "All 
the streets are paved with broad stones, and before the 
meanest doors are seats of various colored marbles, so 
neatly kept that I assure you I walked all over town 

114 



VEERE 

yesterday 'incognito' in my slippers without receiving one 
spot of dirt." There have been some changes since Lady 
Mary's day, but in the main her account reads as if writ- 
ten to-day. 

And now we will pay a short visit to Gouda (pro- 
nounced Hooda) , sometimes called Ter Gouw [the pro- 
nunciation of this word is impossible to give in type], 
where we find a fine church surmounted by a bulbous 
tower sufficiently picturesque to satisfy one, and some 
magnificent stained glass windows of the sixteenth and 
seventeenth centuries. There are twenty-nine large and 
thirteen small windows presented by various princes, cor- 
porations, etc. The best of them are the twelve by the 
brothers Wouter and Dirk Crabath in 1555-57, and of 
their pupils. Before each window is thoughtfully 
placed a cartoon of its subject. Perhaps such an assem- 
blage of antique glass can be seen nowhere else. One 
may examine window after window in wonder at its 
beauty and quality and marvel that the town was not 
long since despoiled of its treasures. From here to The 
Hague is but seventeen miles by rail. We shall, how- 
ever, defer our visit to this town, the favorite residence of 
the royal family, until another chapter. 



115 



QlMt 



mY Dutch friend having left me temporarily, I was 
thrown on my own resources, and leaving my 
baggage at the station, I wended my way down 
to the "Catherijne Kade," crossing the canal. Natu- 
rally of a modest and retiring disposition, I do not court 
undue notoriety and observation. This is necessary to 
state here because alighting from the train at Utrecht, I 
immediately became aware that I was for some reason 
an object of attraction. The porters were rather unusu- 
ally attentive to my luggage, and when I tipped them 
they grinned broadly and winked at one another. I was 
curious as to their actions, but it was when passing over 
the bridge on the Rijnkade that I met a number of school- 
children, and to my amazement, something in my appear- 
ance convulsed them with laughter, and with shouts and 
gesticulations, they turned and ran on ahead -of me, walk- 
ing backward as children do, and staring at me the while. 
In vain I looked myself over, felt of my hat, my hair, and 
my collar, which seemed all correct and in place. At- 
tracted by the noise, men and women appeared at shop 
doors and, when I passed, fell in behind me, and soon I 

ii6 



UTRECHT 

was at the head of a long, straggling procession, which 
closed in upon my heels in a most uncomfortable manner, 
and it was only by dodging through an alley and turning 
on my steps, then through the Stadhuisbrug and back to 
the quiet streets by the canal, that I managed to elude 
my pursuers. "What," pondered I, "is the matter with 
my appearance?" and I stepped into a little shop which 
displayed some books in a window, and bore the sign 
"Boekhandlerij," and to the clerk behind the counter 
asked did he ' 'see anything strange in my costume' ' ? He 
came out from behind his counter and looked me over 
critically, then he too grinned. His answer dumf ounded 
me. "Does Mynheer pull the teeth to-day*?" Briefly 
told it transpired that a couple of itinerant quack dentists 
had been in town the day before, that they carried Amer- 
ican flags, and had extracted teeth free of charge in the 
Cathedral square, selling tooth-powder, besides, restor- 
ing miraculously the whiteness of black teeth in one ap- 
plication. "But why," said I, "am I thus followed'? I 
am no dentist." He pointed to my feet. "Why, Myn- 
heer wears the yellow shoes like the others ; never before 
have we seen such in Utrecht, therefore the people think 
Mynheer a dentist." I fled back to the station, and there 
my comfortable tan shoes were promptly consigned to the 
depths of my traveling kit. 

Utrecht lies peacefully in the midst of verdant fields 
and vast, deep woods. Its parks are charming; it has a 

117 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

fine campanile, opulent-looking houses, and a university. 
Its canals are different from those of other Dutch towns, 
inasmuch as they lie considerably below the level of the 
streets. There are practically two roadways, one on 
each side of the waterway, the upper lined with prosper- 
ous-looking shops and well-appearing buildings, form- 
ing a sort of roof for a lower line of vaults and stores 
which give upon the lower level to the canal. The effect 
is picturesque and novel. The Cathedral is only a sort 
of fragment, as the nave was destroyed by a storm in 
1674. From the vastness of the tower, it must have been 
one of the finest and most important in the Netherlands. 
It stands upon the opposite side of a large square. The 
interior of the remaining portion is disfigured by un- 
sightly woodwork, but it contains some very interesting 
monuments. From the tower, a level country is visible 
for miles, with its towns and villages shining in the sun- 
light. The "Malieban" or Mall is a charming avenue of 
lime trees, three rows deep on either side and more than 
a mile long, and forms one of the finest promenades in 
the Netherlands. The city is the headquarters of the 
Jansenists, a curious Roman Catholic sect, founded in the 
fifteenth century by Cornelius Jansen. They form a 
separate communion in Holland, numbering some six 
thousand, and it is said "bull" after "bull" has been prom- 
ulgated against them by various Popes. A very ancient 
city, Utrecht has a very interesting history. In early 

118 



UTRECHT 

days when the country was subject to the Romans, it was 
known as "Trajectum ad Rhenum," that is, Ford of the 
Rhine. Its first bishop was Wilibrod, an Anglo-Saxon, 
who came from England to preach the gospel in Wal- 
cheren. The prince-bishops of Utrecht were famous for 
their power and wealth, and ruled with the counts of 
Holland for many centuries. Here was signed in 1579 
the famous treaty of Utrecht, the union of the southern 
provinces, the foundation of the Netherlands republic. 

The saying of Erasmus, who waxed witty at the ex- 
pense of Amsterdam, and compared the Amsterdam 
people to "crows living in the tops of trees," need 
not be quoted further, as every traveler refers to it in 
detail, but it is certain, as the guide books say, that 
"were the city turned upside down it would present 
the appearance of a forest of bare tree trunks." The 
Exchange, I am informed, rests upon some 3,500 piles 
driven into the sand. There is so much to be seen in 
Amsterdam that one is at a loss where to begin ; the canals 
are filled with huge ships and barges busily loading and 
discharging cargoes, and in the streets are seen vast heaps 
of casks and bales, and facing them shops crowded with 
people; here the shopmen and clerks, there the rough 
wandering sailors and boatmen wide-breeched and ear- 
ringed. The city is most confusing in its configuration. 
The north side is given up to the docks on the Ij (pro- 
nounced "Eye") . It is built in the form of a horseshoe, 

119 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

and the streets radiate from the "Dam" like a spider's 
web. The Dam is therefore the center or hub and pre- 
sents a busy aspect at all hours of the day. On the 
Rembrandt Plein the scene is very animated and gay 
on fine evenings with the crowds, and the lighted cafes, 
and the cosmopolitan gathering. But it is the river front 
which will attract the tourist, and leaning upon the rail 
of a bridge one's nostrils are greeted with the odors from 
strange bales of goods, of tar, and the smell of cooking 
from the galleys of the vessels. And one may not linger 
long upon the bridge, either, for there is the constant rais- 
ing and lowering of the draws to let the boats pass to and 
fro. The rattle of the chain and block mingles with the 
roar of wheels, and the noisy whistles on the tugs, the 
jangle of chimes from the steeples, and the guttural 
shouts of the boatmen. Huge "Boms" pass in tow of 
diminutive tugs, carriages pass side by side with the 
boats, sails are mirrored in shop windows, and the rigging 
is reflected in the water of the canal. From the Dam 
start the numerous tramways with attending crowds in 
swarms, soldiers are on duty before the Palace, mer- 
chants hurry to and from the exchange, shoppers pass to 
and from the Kalverstraat, and peasants in curious cos- 
tumes from the country stand and gaze in wonder. Ac- 
cording to a quaint custom during the last week in August 
the small boys of the city are permitted to make a play- 
ground of the "Beurs" or exchange, a privilege granted 

120 



Amsterdam 



UTRECHT 

by the city in commemoration of the discovery by a small 
boy of a plot by the Spanish in 1622. The massive 
gloomy building on the west side is the palace, but it is 
said the Queen only stops here one week in the year. It 
is described by Thackeray as follows : 

"You have never seen the Palace of Amsterdam, my dear sir^ 
Why, there's a marble hall in that palace that will frighten you as 
much as any hall in 'Vathek,' or a nightmare. At one end of the 
cold, glassy, glittering, ghostly, marble hall there stands a throne 
on which a white marble king ought to sit with his white legs 
gleaming down into the white marble below, and his white eyes 
looking at a great marble Atlas, who bears upon his icy shoulders 
a blue globe as big as a full moon." 

And he continues in the same strain. But frankly I think 
the room of fine proportions, and altogether impressive in 
its magnificent length of 120 feet, 60 feet in width, and 
100 feet in height, with white marble walls. 

There are many curious back streets in Amsterdam 
through which I have wandered day after day, streets 
bordering on quiet, sluggish canals, and lined with dark, 
solemn-looking houses of black and brown brick, with im- 
maculately clean white window frames, rising sometimes 
to a considerable height and culminating in curious 
stepped gables from which quaint cranes and hooked pul- 
leys project, and above which the "Hei-tutors" fly. I 
don't know why, but these houses suggest spooky se- 
crets, and seem inhabited solely by strange waxen-faced, 
lace-becapped ladies gazing furtively into the little 

121 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

"Spui" (or small mirror) which is invariably fastened 
outside to each window. I have mental pictures of inte- 
riors behind these many-paned windows containing vast 
stores of exquisite marqueterie furniture, rare Delft ware 
and paintings by Hals, massive sideboards crammed with 
Dutch Apostle spoons; inverted silver drinking cups sur- 
mounted by windmills and antique ships, and heavy cut- 
glass chandeliers with brass balls hanging pendant from 
the ceiling. 

Many pleasant days have I idled along these silent 
"Grachts," seeing only these dim, furtive, reflected 
waxen faces in the windows and an occasional black cat 
scurrying across the way. But there is great contrast to 
the silent, dark canals in the great "Kalverstraat," which 
runs south from the Dam, by day and night filled with 
hurrying multitudes of merchants, peasants, and voyag- 
ers, and noisy with the clank of the wooden "shoon," 
The Kalverstraat is the Broadway of Amsterdam, but 
only in the sense of its being a busy thoroughfare, and 
not from its width, for it is quite narrow and brick paved. 
The tourist will seek in the evening the "Warmoes 
Straat," in which is situated the "Krasnapolsky," said to 
be the most gigantic restaurant in Europe, and perhaps 
the most cosmopolitan. It was here I caused consterna- 
tion one evening at dinner on my first visit by calling for 
a plate of ice, for I was thirsty and longed for a cold 
drink of good water. The waiters came and looked at 

122 



UTRECHT 

me by turn and excitedly talked among themselves and 
gesticulated, finally calling the manager, who asked me 
with great courtesy what I desired. I explained that I 
desired a plate of ice. He repeated, "Ice'^" I again said 
ice. Three waiters behind him looked at each other and 
echoed ice. Then they all vanished. I waited. Fi- 
nally I called the nearest waiter and giving him with a 
magnificent air a "dubbeltje" (small coin) said simply, 
"A plate of ice, if you please." He too started visibly 
and said, "Ice?" I once more repeated ice. He in his 
turn vanished. After waiting for some time came the 
head-waiter with a plate of ice, two small cubes of the 
size of butter balls, set it down before me with a hesitat- 
ing air and said, "Ice, mynheer," then stood to one side to 
see what I would do with it. Then came waiter number 
one, bearing a plate with one small piece of ice of the 
butter-ball size, which he in turn set down before me, 
saying "Ice, mynheer," and stood to one side with the 
proprietor to see what I was going to do. Then came 
waiter number three bearing triumphantly a plate with 
another small piece of ice which he placed with the other 
dishes, saying, "If you please, ice, mynheer," and joined 
the other two. With a spoon I placed the four small 
pieces of ice in a glass with some seltzer, and to their 
astonishment I drank it. They seemed satisfied, how- 
ever, for when my bill was presented at the end of the 
dinner, the charge to my consternation was — well — I'm 

123 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

ashamed to tell how much I paid for that glass of ice 
water, but I noticed the extreme respect with which the 
waiter brought me my hat, my coat, and my cane and 
bowed me out into the night. 

Around the Rembrandt Plein are the principal cafes, 
surrounding the statue of the great painter. In the sum- 
mer evenings this square is well-nigh impassable with the 
strolling crowds from the Kalverstraat and the people 
seated about the small tables and chatting gaily. Fri- 
day evening until the night of Saturday, one of the 
greatest sights of the city is the "Jews' quarter." In this 
veritable "Ghetto," Spinoza was born. The house is 
still shown and is numbered 41 on the Waterloo Plein. 
The great Rembrandt, also, dwelt for a number of years 
at number 4 Jordenbreestraat. Of course, as is well 
known, this is the great center of diamond cutting and 
polishing, and in their little dingy cafes the merchants 
may be seen chaffering over gleaming heaps of the pre- 
cious stones. Some writers have spoken of the fact of 
their letting the nail of the little finger grow long so 
that they may use it as a scoop, but I have not seen this 
myself. 

The great Cullinan diamond, which was presented to 
King Edward by the Transvaal Government and the 
cutting of which was finished at Amsterdam in Janu- 
ary, 1909, was really larger before the cutting than 
all the other great diamonds previously discovered. 

124 



UTRECHT 

such as the Kohinoor, the Nizan, the Regent and the 
Orlof . It was Tom Cullinan, a veteran miner, prospect- 
ing one day, who saw on a plateau on the farm of an old 
Boer, the sort of clay which, to his practiced eye, promised 
diamonds. The experts had little faith in the locality, 
nothing ever having been found thereabouts. The Boer 
farmer refused to permit any further prospecting and 
demanded a large sum of money in cash outright. Tom 
finally raised the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars and bought the farm. The diamond drills which 
were put to work immediately, struck at the depth of 
nearly six hundred feet what is known as Kimberley Blue 
Ground, and the result was a dozen fair-sized diamonds. 
After that the Premier Mine, as it was named, became a 
record-breaker, yielding a number of stones about three 
hundred karats, two above two hundred karats, and six- 
teen, it is said, above one hundred karats in weight. 
Tom Cullinan thus became a wealthy man. He did not, 
however, dream of the wealth which was in store for him 
or of the luck which thereafter pursued him and which 
put into his hands a stone worth upwards of five million 
dollars. In the month of January, 1905, one of the man- 
agers, Wells by name, was ascending the scarred side of 
a pit after the day's labor, when his eye caught the flash 
from a monster glassy stone embodied in volcanic clay on 
the opposite slope. He took his bearings and, marking 
the spot, immediately sought the location, where he 

12^ 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

picked out an enormous mass of crystal almost as large as 
his fist and took it to the office. It was put upon the 
scales and weighed 3,024 karats, or more than 1% pounds 
avoirdupois. The geologist of the Transvaal state pro- 
nounced the stone a chip from a much larger block. It 
was then named the Cullinan diamond, after the finder. 

The previous largest find in the mine was the Jagers- 
fontein of 1893, which weighed 970 karats before it was 
cut into ten stones, worth between four and five thousand 
dollars apiece. One may judge of the size of the Cul- 
linan diamond by the fact that it would take ten of them 
to match it in size. It is said that this enormous stone 
was sent to England by registered mail with a shilling 
stamp upon it and that upon its safe arrival it was de- 
posited in the safe deposit vault and was insured for 
$2,500,000, or just one-half its estimated value. It was 
finally decided to cut the stone into eight parts, using 
seven for a royal necklace and the largest fragment to be 
presented to the Crown and to retain forever the name of 
Cullinan. 

The work of cutting and polishing was done at Am- 
sterdam at a cost of fifty thousand dollars. It is said 
that about two-thirds of the stone was lost in the cutting, 
the largest fragment being known as a "drop brilliant" 
weighing 516^ karats. It is much larger than any other 
cut diamond in the world. This drop brilliant was cut 
with 74 facets instead of the regulation 58. The largest 

126 



UTRECHT 

previously known brilliant was the Jubilee of 239 karats. 
Consul Henry Morgan, of Amsterdam, has furnished in 
a report, the following information concerning the pol- 
ishing of the great diamond in that city. 

"It was necessary in the first instance to cleave the 
stone in three pieces in order to remove two very bad 
flaws. This cleaving is done by first making an incision 
in the stone with a diamond-cutting saw at the point 
where it is to be split and following the grain to a depth 
of one-half to three-quarters of an inch. Before this 
cleaving operation was undertaken crystal models were 
made and cleaved in order to ascertain as far as could be 
known just what would happen when the same process 
was applied to the real stone. After the incision the 
cleaver inserted into the slit an especially constructed 
knife blade made of the finest steel and then with a thick 
steel rod struck it a hard blow and cut the stone in two 
exactly at the point where it was proposed it should be 
cut." And it is said to be an exceedingly well-executed 
piece of work. . . . 

In this quarter one may buy wonderful antique rings 
and diamond sparks, but unless one is expert and delights 
in bargaining, and is willing to be cheated, one should 
avoid the experience. At the head of the "Gelder- 
schekade" is a quaint building called the Weeper's tower, 
dating from the fifteenth century. Here the families or 
wives of the fishermen waved good-by to the departing 

127 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

sailors long ago and watched them disappear. At the 
side of the fish market is "St, Anthony's weigh-house," a 
curious red-brick structure. Not far from here is the 
"Prins Hendrik Kade," where De Ruyter lived in the 
seventeenth century. It bears on its front his portrait 
in relief. 

St. Anthony's weigh-house, now used as a fire station, 
was in the fifteenth century the outer limit of the city. 
Some of the city guilds met here, and I am told that in 
olden times a society of surgeons once had a dissecting 
room on the upper floor. Rembrandt's "School of An- 
atomy" originally hung in this building. There are some 
magnificent charitable institutions in the city. Charles 
II when in exile at Bruges is said to have remarked that 
"God would never forsake Holland," so charitable were 
its inhabitants. A frequent sight in the streets are the 
children from the orphanages, who may be recognized 
easily by their picturesque costume or uniform of red 
and black. The skirt and bodice of the girls are divided 
equally vertically in two colors, one side red, the other 
black. I had an excellent view in the evening at the 
open-air concert in the Zoological Gardens of the life of 
the people, and at the "Tolhuis," a large tea garden 
across the ferry, of the lights of the city, and listened to 
the music of a fine military band. "The Rijks Museum" 
contains magnificent and world-renowned paintings, the 
list of which is too extended to note in this chapter, but 

128 



UTRECHT 

the traveler will seek the Gallery of Honor, at the end 
of which is the Rembrandt Room with its huge master- 
pieces. "The Night Watch" at once impels attention. 
It is, of course, 7iot a night watch at all, for the lighting is 
from sunlight in a courtyard, but the misnomer will for- 
ever cling to the canvas. It represents Captain Frans 
Banning Cocq and his company of arquebusiers leaving 
their headquarters for military exercises. 

In the same hall hangs the brilliant work of Van der 
Heist, "The Banquet" of the Amsterdam shooters. This 
work brought the artist a great reputation. Thackeray, 
describing the hands of the figures, says they are as won- 
derful as the faces. Here are pictures by Franz Hals, 
Jan Weenix, Metsu, Dou, Ter Boorch, Jan Steen, Wou- 
vermans, Hobbema, Ruisdael, and a host of others no less 
wonderful. There are also many modern paintings, the 
most popular of which is Queen Wilhelmina's coronation 
by Ecrelmans. There are numerous other picture gal- 
leries in the city. All in all, the tourist will find it diffi- 
cult to tear himself away from Amsterdam. 

Broek has long been celebrated by writers of Holland 
as the cleanest place in all the world, but when I passed 
through it did not strike me as being so much cleaner 
than any other town of its class, though it did im- 
press me as being more upon the toy-box order than any 
other, and it seemed to me that the inhabitants were pain- 
fully aware of their reputation and were trying to live 

129 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

up to it. It is certainly clean, for across the road there is 
a wooden bar to prevent horses or vehicles from entering 
the principal street, and a sign pointing out the way to a 
back thoroughfare by the canal. I saw an old dame who 
was nearly as wide as she was tall, busily sweeping up 
some imaginary dust into a pan in the middle of the road- 
way. She scowled at me as I passed so that I looked at 
my boots to see if they were not as clean as they might 
have been. It is all on a diminutive scale and looks like 
a play town arranged for some fete, and there are tiny 
ponds before the houses and three-foot drawbridges over 
two-foot canals, connecting the walks. But it is a pretty 
village with its tiny gardens, its trim trees, and its little 
ponds, and I am not sorry that I passed through it. 

Monnickendam I spent the night in. At dinner, the 
proprietor, a tall dismal looking old man, brought me a 
larger decanter of remarkably fine port wine, saying that 
I might drink all that I liked of it free of charge, as this 
was my first visit to the town. He said this was the cus- 
tom of the hotel. I seemed to be the only guest in the 
hotel, which was named "Doelen" as usual [there seems 
to be a Hotel Doelen in every large town in Holland]. 
When I awoke in the morning, the first thing I saw was 
an immense pulpit painted white and gilded, at the other 
end of my bedroom, which seemed to be a sort of council 
chamber for some association, for it bore the inscription 
"Tot Nut Van t'algemeen,"in gilt letters, the meaning 

130 



Monnickendam — Bell Tower and Jf'eigh House 



^tVloW A^^V-i^W \iHft Ti'JJoT W^iS. S«ft\iW5l^j\s\W0M 



# 



■ir. ; 7; /. « A^lT 



/ft 






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^ ..r^-^--;t 




ifM: 


, ; ■ '- n; '^ ^' 


1, 



UTRECHT 

of which I never discovered. A queer, forgotten town 
it is, with a stately old church big enough to hold a regi- 
ment. The houses are red, the shutters are green, the 
streets are deserted, and the pavement is of very yellow 
brick. The proprietor seemed disappointed that I was 
leaving so soon, and asked me if I had fault to find with 
the hotel. I took pains to assure him of my thanks for 
his endeavors. It was from here that I took a sailboat 
for Marken, which wonderful island is nothing but a 
huge meadow dyked up against the sea, with the most 
theatrical population imaginable. It is said that the 
women rarely ever leave the island and that they know 
nothing of the outer world, but I am inclined to doubt 
this, for they do understand the value of the "stuijver" 
(coin) . The little villages, of which there are several, 
are built on high mounds of earth called "Terpen" 
brought from the mainland in boats, and these are con- 
nected by narrow brick-paved roadways running across 
the fields. In the spring and fall when the winds are 
high, the sea rises and the little villages are separated 
completely. The costume of the men is comical. They 
wear a kind of divided skirt ending at the knees, with a 
blue shirt and sou'wester. The dress of the women I 
shall describe with a certain diffidence as a short, full pet- 
ticoat of some blue stuff; a very gay bodice covered with 
bright flowers, in red, green, and purple, which seems to 
be laced up the back; blue knitted sleeves from wrist to 

131 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

elbow, then to the shoulder in white, and bright orange 
handkerchief or a string of coral beads around the neck. 
Each woman wears a queer, close-fitting cap of black 
cloth with an edging of white lace, and her hair is cut 
straight across in a bang at the forehead, and two long, 
curly locks hanging down each side of her face to her 
shoulders. As for the children, up to the age of ten 
they are dressed exactly alike. It is only possible to tell 
the boys from the girls by the button the former have on 
their caps, and the red rose the latter wear under their 
chins. It has been said that Marken is no place for the 
sensitive traveler. There was a most remarkable old 
woman on the island named Vrouw' Marretje Teer- 
huis, who kept the socalled "Showhouse," and sold al- 
leged Delft plates for fabulous prices. I am told that 
she has since retired from business upon what is consid- 
ered a fortune upon Marken. The people are certainly 
mercenary to the last degree, and some travelers indeed 
have called them savages. But I would not go quite so 
far as this, although my friend Edwin A, Abbey, the 
artist, related a most annoying and almost incredible ex- 
perience which he and a friend had there, some years ago, 
which came near resulting disastrously for them. The 
women impressed me as being better-natured than the 
men, and I was prepared to take it all on trust and be- 
lieve in them thoroughly until I saw some of the interiors 
of the homes. The trouble with Marken is that it is a 

132 



N 




Marken — On the'tty 



ad her ii 



rold that 

isid- 



Tv. 's\\l hO \«>i^tt^M 



ts a 



UTRECHT 

commercial community, a business enterprise with a dis- 
creetly hidden business manager. The lavishly dis- 
played bric-a-brac, Delft plate, brass milk cans, the Apos- 
tle spoons, as a rule are all made for the occasion and 
placed there by astute dealers, and the prices they ask for 
these would stagger even an American. And so let us 
leave them to the business. 

Certainly, if Volendam, which I shall describe here- 
after as a deep red village, is so identified, then Zaandam 
must be styled the "Green Village," for nowhere in Hol- 
land is there such a lavish display of green paint, and 
curiously enough the eifect is charming. It would seem 
as if the weather had a qualifying effect upon the color, 
for it becomes with time of an exquisite turquoise tint. 
These houses seen beneath the rows of trees which run 
down its long streets are in effect most pleasing. Zaan- 
dam is divided by the river Zaan. There is a little 
hotel called the "De Zon," presided over by a most kind 
old vrouwe, and here one may sit at peace with the world 
and watch the ducks swimming in the canal. Zaandam 
is preeminently the windmill town and invariably is 
associated with Don Quixote, but of course he has had 
nothing whatever to do with it, and as Whistler would 
say, "why drag him in?" These mills are whirling and 
gesticulating in all directions. There are blue mills, red 
mills, white mills, brown mills, black mills, and two green 
ones, all of various sizes and shapes. I am told that for 

133 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

the most part they are pumping water, but I saw some 
which make fertilizer; others grind or cut tobacco, and 
many saw wood. The guide book tells me that there are 
"four hundred of these mills and that they stretch along 
the canal for five miles." I counted eighty from the sta- 
tion alone, while waiting for the train, to the amazement 
of a cabman who was watching me and who certainly 
thought I was crazy. The moment I disembarked at 
Zaandam, I was beset with guides of all sorts : small boys 
danced before me, old men pushed and pulled me, and 
one man, not being able to reach me for the crowd, tapped 
me on the head with a long stick which he held in his 
hand, and holding up his other hand shouted, "Peter's 
house, Peter's house." But with one single word in 
Dutch with which I had been equipped by my Dutch 
friend, and which I am unwilling to disclose, I discour- 
aged them and sought out the house of Peter myself, for 
one cannot miss it, whether one wishes or not. It is now 
encased for preservation in an outer covering of zinc and 
brick and outwardly resembles a small chapel. There 
are two small rooms to be seen, in one of which is Peter's 
bed. The walls of the hut are covered with autographs 
and some Russian tablets. Peter the Great lived here in 
1697 when he worked as a shipwright in the yard of one 
Mynheer Kalf . The monarch is said to have spent only 
eight days in this hut, and if this be so, he is certainly 
responsible for a great deal of trouble to the poor tourists 

134 



UTRECHT 

and no little money has fallen into the pockets thereby of 
the bland Zaandamers. Anton Mauve, one of the great- 
est of the modern Dutch school of painters, was born here 
in 1838. He died at Arnheim in 1888. Strange to say, 
neither Zaandam nor Arnheim has evinced the slightest 
interest in the fact. 

And now Volendam, the artist village. To this one 
should go in the "Trekschuyt," a funny little ark of a 
boat drawn by boy-power along the canal, said boy, and 
a sturdy one too, being hitched up into a sort of harness 
with a wide leather band across his breast and the tow- 
line attached to a hook at his back. He leans over his 
"job" at an angle of 45 degrees and pulls the boat along 
the canal at the rate of about two and a half miles an 
hour, while a lean old man with a pole at his armpit 
keeps the stern of the boat away from the bank of the 
canal. Mynheer of the vast, gloomy hotel at Monnick- 
endam helped me down to the boat with my traps in the 
morning and introduced me to our boy-motor. The boat, 
which lay in the canal, was shaped like a small Noah's 
Ark, nearly as broad as it was long, with a door at one 
end, giving entrance to the interior. Through the little 
square windows in the sides I saw the pretty faces of a 
number of girls in charming lace caps. The faces van- 
ished as I looked and I heard a good deal of giggling and 
the boat swayed alarmingly from side to side. Once on 
board, mynheer presented me formally to the quaintest 

135 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

collection of girls that I have ever seen. There were 
six of them arrayed in the prettiest costumes imaginable. 
They quite filled the little cabin with a number of 
brightly polished milk-cans and one huge basket of frag- 
rant celery. Soon we were off, and in response to their 
shy questioning I began to tell the girls where I came 
from, and where I was going, my name, my age, my fam- 
ily history, and my occupation, and soon they were gaily 
chattering upon matters not more than half of which I 
could understand. I asked one of them to sing me a 
song, which she did very shyly, at first, and then gather- 
ing courage the rest joined in the chorus. It was some- 
thing about chasing pigs out of the garden, and a poor, 
sore heart, but I could not see the connection, although 
this must have been my fault. Then my neighbor asked 
me if I would sing a song. I said I couldn't, that I never 
had excepting in the privacy of my own quarters, but that 
I would if they wished it and would absolve me from the 
consequences, that there were cows in the fields all about 
us, and that consideration was due to the boy who was 
pulling the boat. At the first sound of my voice, the boy 
returned to the boat and peering down the hatchway, 
asked me if anything was wrong. I of course resented 
his impudence, thinking that if the young ladies did not 
object that it was no concern of his. As for the girls, 
they seemed perfectly satisfied, for after the first few 
bars, they laughed uproariously; but they did not ask me 

136 



UTRECHT 

to continue, although I was perfectly willing. They did, 
however, entertain me charmingly by telling me much 
that concerned Volendam, at which we arrived all too 
soon. The village is below, or almost so, the sea level, 
excepting some of the houses on the outer dyke, and all is 
most unusual. I may say that Volendam is now, alas, 
different from what it was when I first saw it, nearly 
twenty years ago. The traveler is beginning to find it 
out, and Mynheer Spaander's Inn has been enlarged, is 
now managed by his charming and efficient daughters, 
and is thronged in the summer. The houses are largely 
of wood clapboarded and with quaint gables, and the 
color, as I remarked before, is a deep red of a magenta 
shade. That is to say, the houses are so painted, and 
that, as well, is generally the color of the jackets and 
trousers of the men, so that all is what artists call "in 
tone." The great trouble with Volendam is its open 
drain, from which there is great danger, I should think, 
of typhoid. Artists have found Volendam, and in both 
summer and winter its streets and houses are thronged 
with them. They come, too, from all parts of the world. 
The population has learned to like them, and the men, 
women, and children can fall at once into the easiest pos- 
sible poses. 

Mynheer Spaander and his kind daughters are hospital- 
ity itself. They have provided a richly furnished studio 
for the painter which contains nearly all that one would 

137 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

need. The men of the community are taciturn to the last 
degree. On their return from fishing, one may see them 
squatting on their heels all along the dyke in sheltered 
spots, smoking furiously and persistently, apparently 
without saying one word for hours. One is struck by 
the collections of wooden shoes arranged outside each 
doorway in assorted sizes until one learns that it is the 
rule that all shoes must be left outside before entering. 
The men wear very thick knitted blue woolen socks. 
The houses are very small, usually a story and a half, 
and the fronts are below the level of the street. The 
Volendam matron, when dressed ceremonially, wears, 
I am credibly informed, some fourteen petticoats, which 
are suspended from a wooden hoop worn about the waist. 
Those who can afford it wear as many more as they can 
get, the outer one being of woolen stuff in broad blue 
and white stripes, embroidered with silk. The cap is 
unique and different from all others, and has two long 
lace points projecting from each side of the face. The 
community strangely enough is of the Roman Catholic 
faith. It is only on Saturdays and Sundays that the lit- 
tle harbor is completely filled with strangely modeled 
fishing-boats with their crews, presenting a very busy 
sight, and at the crowded church on Sunday the picture 
is unique. 

Returning to Edam by the "Trekschuyt," one might 
linger for a little while at its museum. The house is a 

138 



UTRECHT 

sufficiently remarkable one. It has been styled "a curio 
of curios." Mynheer informed me that it was built by 
a sea captain, a wonderful man, away back in the six- 
teenth century, who so loved his vocation that he fitted 
up its interior as far as possible in the likeness of a ship. 
The custodian hands one a candle and invites one to 
descend into the "hold." Formerly, I am told, this por- 
tion of the household floated in the canal water, but it is 
now fastened to the rest of the structure. There is a 
steep ship's ladder, leading to a small cabin on the upper 
deck, which contains a curious table so mechanically 
arranged that upon displacing the top some secret draw- 
ers are disclosed. There are various cunningly arranged 
closets, all contrived by this singular character. It is 
filled with old books and curios, and on the wall is a large 
painting, representing the battle of Chatham. I am told 
that the Dutch vessels of war therein engaged were built 
here. Of course, the town gives its name to the brand 
of cheese, but as a matter of fact little, if any, of this 
commodity is now manufactured here. 



139 



^^^F course the great attraction of Alkmaar is its 
■ U^ cheese market, at which it is said 5,000,000 kilos 

^•'^ of the commodity are sold yearly. Every Fri- 
day morning curiously shaped vehicles quite filled with 
yellow shiny cheeses are driven into town from all parts 
of the country round about. Contrary to our notion, 
these cheeses are not red, unless for export. The wagons 
are of light, varnished wood, high up above the wheels 
and painted bright blue inside. They are all headed for 
the market-place and the Weigh House. The carillon 
is busily ringing out in its sweet tones, The Wedding 
March from Lohengrin. Flayed on these bells it is a 
delight to the ear, and from the tower at intervals two 
little mechanical wooden horsemen charge each other to 
the notes of the mechanical trumpeter. The sight in the 
market-place is most curious and unique, perhaps the 
most curious in all the Netherlands. There are huge 
golden heaps or mounds of cheeses which glow and glitter 
in the sunlight. Long lines of boats come in and dis- 
charge their cargoes in turn before the painted and gilded 
Weigh House, and the square is filled with buyers and 
sellers, shouting and getting in each other's way to such 

140 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

an extent that one wonders how they do any business. 
To the onlooker they seem to be shaking hands con- 
stantly, as if congratulating each other upon the amount 
of cheese in the market-place. The peasants are tossing 
the cheeses down to the porters, who are dressed in a kind 
of white canvas and wear large, flat-brimmed hats of 
red or blue or yellow, as the case may be. They carry 
on small hand-barrows two or three hundred-weight of 
the yellow balls. They glide over the ground in a curi- 
ous scuffling, shambling manner. There are scales scat- 
tered about, corresponding in color to the hats of the por- 
ters. The whole scene, in fact, is a wild, kaleidoscopic 
revel of glaring yet harmonious colors. The bargaining 
presents a most peculiar ceremony. By dint of listening 
carefully, one hears a price named which is at once re- 
jected by the other, who seems to name his price only to 
have it in turn rejected, and after an interminable num- 
ber of these rejections, the purchase is completed by both 
hands meeting with a quick sort of a slap, and so the bar- 
gaining goes on until noon, when a truce is declared. 
All adjourn to the little eating-places for dinner, which is 
a most serious and formidable ceremony with them. 
Apart from this, Alkmaar is not of great interest. 
There is here a typical almshouse, called in Dutch "De 
Oude mannen Enn-Oude vrouwen huis," with pretty, 
white walls and a picturesque tower. There is a picture 
of the siege of Alkmaar in the Museum, for this was the 

141 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

point of attack by the Duke of Alva after the conquest 
of Haarlem, when the citizens of Alkmaar defied him. 
Motley's vivid narrative describes how "The Spaniards 
advanced, burned the village of Egmont to the ground 
as soon as the patriots had left it, and on the 21st of 
August Don Frederick, appearing before the walls, pro- 
ceeded formally to invest Alkmaar." In a few days this 
had been so thoroughly accomplished that, in Alva's lan- 
guage, "it was impossible for a sparrow to enter or go out 
of the city." The odds were somewhat unequal. Six- 
teen thousand troops constituted the besieging force. 
Within the city were a garrison of 800 soldiers, together 
with 1,300 burghers capable of bearing arms. The rest 
of the population consisted of very few refugees, besides 
the women and children. Two thousand one hundred 
able-bodied men, of whom about one-third were soldiers, 
to resist 16,000 regulars! "On that bank and shoal," 
says Motley, "the extreme edge of habitable earth, the 
spirit of Holland's freedom stood at bay." But after a 
heroic defense of seven weeks, the brave inhabitants tri- 
umphed; the siege was raised. 

Here, in August, one of the famous trotting matches 
(Harddraverij) which attracts thousands from the coun- 
try around is held in the park, and here one will have an 
unequaled opportunity for the study of North Holland 
manners and customs. The Kermis is now forbidden by 
law in most of the towns. But generally after harvest 

142 



Alkmaar — The JFeigh House 



blHolA \\\i\'i'\\ >:is\T -UiRW^W. 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

time it was celebrated, and the otherwise sleepy little 
town would rub its eyes, put on its best cap, and give 
itself over to a heavy sort of gaiety. Let me describe one 
as I saw it. The market-place, usually so deserted and 
grass-grown, was then dotted with gorgeous booths, 
merry-go-rounds, and caravans, brilliant in tinsel and 
vermilion, the smoke from the lamps of which, for it is 
by night that the Kermis thrives, mounts high in the air 
to the tower. The groans and snarls of bagpipes, the 
noisy rumble and discordant notes of large organs, the 
clash of cymbals, awaken the echoes of the market-place 
to which the peasants are flocking from miles about in 
high-waisted wagons, hay-cushioned, and drawn by huge, 
hollow-backed Flemish horses, bell-rigged and brass-har- 
nessed; in low two- wheeled carts, drawn by savage-look- 
ing yellow dogs, of nondescript breed, and in high-pol- 
ished and varnished "Tilburys," whose white canvas 
hoods gleam in the soft light of evening. Still others are 
drawn by hardy-looking shaggy ponies. Some wagons 
are entirely filled with rosy-cheeked, chattering girls from 
the farm clad in brilliant costumes and lace caps; some 
wagons are laden with sweet-smelling clover, upon which 
is perched Mynheer and his comfortable-looking, shrewd- 
faced Vrouwe, who is generally the superintendent of the 
farm, and to whom a silver gulden represents a good day's 
profit from cheese and butter; others are laden with thick- 
featured, phlegmatic young men from the fields, who 

143 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

wear high-waisted jackets and wide leather belts clasped 
with huge embossed silver circular buckles, each one 
smoking furiously. The roads leading into town are 
thronged also with long lines of the poorer peasants, men, 
women, and girls, who own no conveyance of any sort, 
the laborers upon the roads and in the potato and beet 
fields, tanned a dark brown by the sun, with hands thick 
and calloused by hard work. All these are bound for the 
town and the fleeting joys of the Kermis. From afar 
the glare in the market-place can be seen and the massive 
Cathedral spire, aglow with lights. The noise of the 
peasants' wooden shoes upon the uneven stones is like 
the clattering of a giant mill-wheel, and they present a 
solid appearance like an army in motion. The air is 
filled with shouts and laughter, and now and then a com- 
pany of girls who are arm in arm will break into song, and 
not unmusically. 

Although it is nine o'clock it is not yet dark; twilight 
lingers long in the low country; but high in the heavens a 
few stars show here and there and are reflected in the 
sluggish water of the canal, over the little bridge of which 
the peasants are now clattering noisily. Many children, 
too, are among the throng, queer-looking old-faced chil- 
dren in short-waisted, brass-buttoned coats and skirts 
that spring voluminously from beneath their arm-pits and 
quite reach the ground; children to whom the sight of a 
real doll is a novelty, and who, later on, are to sit at the 

144 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

long tables and drink huge mugs of foaming beer and con- 
sume piles of greasy waffles, the smell of which is nauseat- 
ing at times ; or who will stand open-mouthed and eager 
in long, struggling lines before the toy stands, their fin- 
gers itching to handle and caress the beautiful objects dis- 
played, and who will eagerly hand up their scant coin to 
the jaded-looking woman who presides over the wheel of 
fortune, the prize of which is a sheet of paper containing, 
as it may be, ten, twenty, or fifty little dabs of suspicious- 
looking white sugar, which they lick off with delight. 
Whatever figure the brass arrow points out, that number 
of dabs is handed over to the winner. 

In the square, one side of which is filled with tents and 
merry-go-rounds, the peasants struggle and push in a 
solid, evil-smelling mass, watching at one side the tum- 
bling wooden horses and lions upon which are straddled 
the peasants, screaming with delight to the blatant blare 
of heavy orchestrions, and upon the other side, the antics 
of a clown upon a barrel, his face whitened with chalk 
and a red spot upon either cheek, who rings a harsh-toned 
bell and roars out a coarse joke directed at the peasants, 
to which they respond with force. At intervals a couple 
of frowsy-looking women in soiled pink tights walk af- 
fectedly across the platform before the show-tent, fol- 
lowed by a hideous dwarf who mouths and leers amid ap- 
preciative roars. Ordinarily the peasant is silent, but 
upon these occasions makes up for his erstwhile taci- 

145 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

turnity. Before another booth a hoarse-voiced showman 
roars out the attractions of the fat woman of incredible 
weight, becoming purple in the face in his simulated en- 
thusiasm, and frantically endeavors to coax the hard- 
earned "dubbeltje" from the phlegmatic, open-mouthed 
Mynheers. There is weight-lifting by champions and 
strong-lunged men, each surrounded by admiring crowds. 
At intervals small portions of colored fire are burned, 
now green, now red, lighting up the quaint gables of the 
houses and throwing complementary shadows of the 
poles, flags and people, magnified out of all proportion. 
In the cafes, dancing is being indulged in which becomes 
fast and furious as the night grows. The sanded floors 
are crowded with couples turning and twisting to the 
raucous tones of large orchestrions turned by jaded, 
heavy-looking men. Beer flows by the barrel, and later 
on a particularly evil sort of brandy made from potatoes, 
which produces sometimes upon the peasants a murder- 
ous frenzy. The police are everywhere, in and out of 
uniform, their watchful eyes taking in every movement 
of the crowd. The air is heavy with the fumes of to- 
bacco and the smoke of oil lamps. Overhead, the vast 
square fabric of the tower rises majestically, its summit 
lost in the dark blue of the heavens, and even above the 
noise of the moving peasants, the hum of voices, the 
coaxing shouts of the showmen, the beating of drums, the 
blare of trumpets and the countless indescribable noises 

146 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

of a large crowd, there comes to one faintly from above 
the faint, mellow jangle of the chimes, followed by the 
hollow boom of the big bell, striking twelve. The Ker- 
mis is well on. But there is another side to the Kermis, 
which is shown by the police records, and this I am com- 
pelled to say is the opposite to the picture which I have 
drawn. This is fraught with drunkenness and crime — 
even murder, and so the Kermis is now forbidden in the 
large cities, and only tolerated in the more remote com- 
munities, and even in these the church unites with the 
authorities in a careful watch over the peasantry, and the 
lines are more tightly drawn than formerly, when the 
predatory bands of foreigners, who accompanied the itin- 
erant shows from town to town, were permitted to plun- 
der the people at will. So in a few years at most the 
Kermis will be a custom of the past, known only in his- 
tory. 

Hoorn [pronounced Horn] Is a most attractive little 
town rarely visited by the tourist, yet its spires and 
tower appearing from the heavy masses of the trees pre- 
sent a most beautiful picture. To see it in shadow 
against the warm, yellow sky at eventide and a big whit- 
ish dab of full moon rising behind a gable and a few 
velvety sailed fishing boats gliding by noiselessly while 
the peasants throng the coping at the harbor front, their 
red and blue waists reflected in the water, will give one 
great delight. It is said that Hoorn was named from the 

H7 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

shape of the protecting mole at the harbor mouth and that 
the city was once very rich and great in the days of 
Tromp, whose ships were from this port. Our own Cape 
Horn is its namesake, for it was Wilem Schouten, its dis- 
coverer, who was a sailor from here. Van Diemen's 
Land was discovered by Abel Tasman, and the country 
is now called for him Tasmania, and it was Pieter Coen, 
whose statue may be seen here, who is said to have 
founded the Dutch East Indies. There is only one busi- 
ness day at Hoorn during the week and Thursday is the 
day. The scene is a reproduction in miniature of the 
cheese market at Alkmaar. The streets are irregularly 
built and crowded with quaint architecture of three cen- 
turies ago. The tourist is an object of curiosity, but he 
will meet with great civility and often kindness. Here 
Admiral De Bossu surrendered, and with three hundred 
prisoners was carried into Holland. He remained in 
prison three years. His silver goblet is preserved at 
Hoorn, his sword at Enkhuizen. At the corner of the 
"Grooteoost" one will be shown the houses from which 
the wives and families watched the progress of the great 
battle of Hoorn, and there is a bas-relief representation 
of the fight on the gable. Everything about Hoorn is 
particularly quaint, clean, and charming; the houses 
bend forward over the street and are trimmed with black 
paint, and the whole effect against the thick trees is inde- 
scribably mellow and rich in color. There is a fine mu- 

148 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

seum and pictures of soldiers and burgomasters and a 
splendid portrait of De Ruyter by Bol, all shown smil- 
ingly by a nice fresh faced girl in a fascinating costume 
who told me that she could understand English but could 
not speak it. From here we go to Enkhuizen, which, by 
the way, need not detain us long on this occasion, for we 
take here a small steamer to the island of Urk. 

The visitor to Urk will find it like a voyage to another 
country. It is a raised plateau above the surface of the 
shallow waters of the Zuyderzee, and the people are 
called Free Frisians. It seems to cower by itself behind 
its dykes, but for which, one is assured, it would certainly 
be swept away. On a rainy day it is the dreariest place 
that I have ever seen, and imprisoned in the small sitting- 
room of the inn, if it may be called such, one could only 
smoke, hug the fire of peat which burned most fragrantly 
upon the hearth, listen to the bubbling of the steaming 
kettle, and try to teach the starling in a wicker cage in the 
window a new whistling note or two, while the line of 
stolid Mynheers, drawn up on a bench opposite, smoking 
furiously, drank in every detail of one's personal appear- 
ance. Outside the rain splashed dismally and an occa- 
sional peasant slopped by, his klompen sounding noisily. 
So passed my first evening at Urk. The next day was 
much more amusing in the bright sunlight, although I 
spent a restless night in the bed built in the wall, to get 
into which I had to mount three steps and thence fall into 

149 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

a well nigh bottomless feathery abyss, which closed in 
upon me, and which I had to rearrange before I could rest. 
Added to this was a pattering noise made, I afterward 
discovered, by huge fleas, who were performing acro- 
batics on a newspaper which I had left on the table. The 
proprietor in the morning gave me some powder to sprin- 
kle about the bed and the floor which he said quieted "the 
little birds," as he called them, and rendered them stupe- 
fied for the night I This operation has to be gone through 
with regularly in some parts of the Netherlands. But 
the morning dawned bright and clear over Urk, and after 
a frugal breakfast of cold hard boiled eggs, several kinds 
of cheese and some hot tea, I sallied forth. 

The streets of Urk are quite deserted save for a few 
women and children, the men on week days being away 
with the fishing fleet. Those to be seen are mainly old 
ones who have practically retired from work, and these, as 
I passed through the streets, invariably sallied forth, pipe 
in mouth, their hands in their wide corduroy breeches 
pockets, and, falling into line, stopping when I stopped, 
moving when I moved, followed me wherever I went, 
standing motionless when I paused to make a sketch, their 
heads moving in unison, and their eyes looking in vain 
search for what I sought in the prospect. The humor of 
the situation dawning upon me, I led them up one street 
and down another, walking now fast and now slow, and 
suddenly doubling upon my track to their confusion, but 

150 



The Friesland Hat 



\>A\ \^m^^<\■^■\ ',i\T 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

it did not worry them in the least. Invariably they re- 
turned to the attack, escorting me finally in triumph back 
to the inn, where they reseated themselves upon the long 
bench. This sort of amusement soon palled upon me, so 
I ordered beer for all of them, to their amazement and de- 
light, and paid for it promptly ; they then one and all be- 
came my friends. It was here that I made great and un- 
looked for fame for myself as a medical practitioner. I 
had a little pocket case of homeopathic remedies for sim- 
ple ailments, and I ventured to prescribe for a slight 
childish ailment from which the little daughter of a 
neighbor was suffering, and which produced the desired 
result, the child recovering during the night and being at 
play in the morning when I came down to breakfast, to 
the manifest relief and delight of the mother, whose grat- 
itude and enthusiasm could not be restrained, she volubly 
insisting that I had saved her child's life. Thus my fame 
spread over Urk, and when I returned from my work to 
dinner I found an array of patients awaiting me, to my 
discomfiture. So I fled from Urk by the afternoon boat 
with the grateful mothers waving me good-by from the 
dyke, and with numerous presents of cake and sausage 
which they pressed upon me. The sausage was long and 
thin, hard and bulbous in places and inclined to curl sug- 
gestively, so that I surreptitiously threw it overboard as 
Urk was fading in the distance. 

The captain of that little boat is a genius in extracting 
151 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

guldens from the chance traveler. From a distance of 
considerably over 3,000 miles I salute him I On the 
upper deck of the boat near the wheel and in advance of 
the smokestack was a small bench. The space for first- 
class passengers was at the stern of the boat, the peasants 
being supposed to go forward in the bow. I saw the deck- 
hand carry down some briquettes, square blocks of coal- 
dust mixed with tar, which he deposited at the door of the 
engine-room. I had seated myself comfortably in the 
stern for the last glimpse of Urk, when there came vast 
volumes of black smoke from the stack and I was envel- 
oped in a cloud of black smudges. The deck-hand in- 
vited me to mount the steps to the captain's bridge and I 
did so, taking a seat on the aforesaid bench before the 
smokestack, and in a few minutes the captain turned and 
said, "Tickets, please," and extorted from me an extra 
gulden for the "privilege" of sitting before the smoke- 
stack. It is not the amount but rather the skill of the 
extortion which interests one. 

It is said that Stavoren was formerly so wealthy as a 
city and its inhabitants so opulent that the handles on 
their doors and the hinges of their windows were of 
beaten gold and very large in size. It was formerly the 
residence of the Frisian monarchs and was named for the 
god Stavo. It is now silent and practically deserted, and 
I presume I must relate the story of Guicciardini, who in- 
forms us quaintly that there was a certain rich widow who 

152 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

dwelt at Stavoren and who finally became so wealthy that 
she really knew not the sum total of her vast possessions. 
"This," says the writer, "produced in her manners at once 
arrogant and petulant, and she treated all who came near 
her with great insolence." Loading a vessel for Dantzic 
with all the commodities which the shopkeepers of Hol- 
land could find, she put it under the charge of her most 
skillful captain and commanded him to bring back to her 
the most exquisite, the rarest, the most useful and the 
most valuable article to be procured in the world. Not 
daring to question her further, the captain set sail and 
sold his cargo in foreign lands, searching in vain for the 
article which the widow desired but which she would not 
nominate. At length, after deep cogitation and many 
sleepless hours, the captain concluded that there was 
nothing in the world more valuable than wheat, so he 
loaded his ship with this and return to Stavoren. When 
he appeared before the widow and delivered to her a sam- 
ple of his cargo, she ordered the captain to throw the grain 
overboard into the harbor, and in her rage and disap- 
pointment she ordered him from her presence and 
stripped him of his authority. The captain did as he was 
bid, and the grain taking root, a sand bank was formed 
at the entrance of the harbor which quite choked it up, 
preventing ships of any tonnage from entering, and the 
grass-grown sand bank which appears in front of the har- 
bor is now known as the "Vrouwenzand." 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

My Dutch friend tells me that Hindeloopen means 
"stag hunt" and tells, too, that this is the headquarters 
for all the bric-a-brac dealers in the world; that it is here 
that all the spurious cradles, chairs, cupboards, gaily 
painted "antique" sleds and nearly all the modern Dutch 
silver are made in the charming little back streets. This 
may be so; I do not profess to know nor do I care. I 
can only say I was filled with delight during my stay here, 
and that I left it with deep regret, and I have vivid recol- 
lections of beautiful interiors, all lined with blue and 
white tiles, and filled with exquisite painted woodwork 
and cabinets of wonderful carving, groaning with curios 
and massive beaten-silver vessels. I never have seen so 
many Delft plates, or so much beautiful shining brass and 
copper anywhere else; the whole town is one vast mu- 
seum. There is a queer showroom with wax figures, of 
typical peasants of Hindeloopen, and here one may see 
the Friesland women, who are said to be the handsomest 
in the country. They wear a skull cap of solid, beaten 
gold. It fits over the whole head closely, and forms an 
heirloom, descending from mother to daughter for genera- 
tions. It is covered with lace, through which it gleams 
most attractively. This head-dress had its origin, so it is 
said, when the favorite daughter of one of the early rulers 
of the free Frisians, suffering from an incurable skin dis- 
ease, had the misfortune to lose her hair. Her father of- 
fered a large reward to any one who could suggest an or- 

154 








A Friesland Farm House 



AND OF TO-DAY 

end tells me that Hindeloopen means 
'■ 'h, too, that this is the headquarters 

dealers in the world : that it is here 



and mv 

many L , > . ;. mutug ;->iao.:>ciii,v.. 

ropne^ town is one vnst 't^u 

lindclu' 
, who ar 

•■V ^vear ■.' 



• skm dis- 

. 1 father of- 

''■'"^^-Tf'^^^n'^te'?! Suggest an or^ 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

namental head covering which would enable her to ap- 
pear to advantage before the court, and the cap which she 
wore and which was designed by a gold worker of the 
town found so much favor in all eyes that it was adopted 
by the court ladies and then became part of the provincial 
costume. It is called in the language "Kapsel." Cer- 
tainly no headdress could be more curious and ornate. 

I am told that the Dutch Boer or farmer has not 
changed in character within the last hundred years, and 
that he is not at all discontented with his lot. We have 
seen him at the "Kermis" and in the seaport towns, and 
perhaps we have in our minds a very good picture of him. 
We have seen him also in the cheese market, and we know 
that his cheese making and the care of his farm is the ob- 
ject of his life, but it seems to me that the old Boer with 
his shaven, mahogany-colored face and his bright, keen 
gray eyes is certainly much more attractive than the 
younger ones. I have in mind one fine old fellow I fell 
in with, and with whom I became quite friendly, who was 
arrayed in a most picturesque costume. Calling one 
morning in a high-backed "tilbury" on his way from 
market, over a glass of foaming beer he invited me to 
inspect his "Spul" (that is to say, his farm plant) . As 
we drove up to the house, which was in the "Polders" in 
the midst of a flat country and backed by a beautiful 
clump of trees, he showed me his idols, which were two 
score of clean black and white cows, with large, full ud- 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

ders, a stable full of fine young horses, a "stive" full of 
the cleanest white pigs I have ever seen, a chicken and 
duck yard in immaculate order, a gorgeous pagoda, or 
summer house, painted green with a minaret surmounted 
by a gilded weather vane; a beautiful Sunday carriage 
for church-going, in the form of a chaise, with golden 
wheels picked out with red and blue flowers, the property 
of his wife and daughters, and a dog house of large pro- 
portions mounted on a pivot, in the midst of a paved cir- 
cle of brick, which he explained to me he had arranged so 
that the dog that was chained to the house could, when 
it so pleased him, drag it around on its pivot to face the 
sun in whatever direction it might be shining. The gar- 
dens were in "apple-pie" order. His pear trees were 
groaning with fruit, his straw ricks were numerous, and 
his sheep were scattered over the landscape as far as one 
could see. He was a typical specimen of the Boer, a man 
of some education and of great native shrewdness, a mem- 
ber of the town council, or what we would call an alder- 
man, and was worth, probably, in the neighborhood of 
half a million gulden. But he was a Boer, as his father 
had been before him, and of this he was very proud, and 
a conservative, rooted adherence to the ways of his fore- 
fathers is the dominant keynote of his character. 

I was here most hospitably entertained, and the pre- 
vailing bad times have certainly not yet penetrated this 
quaint land. I noted in the principal sitting-room that 

156 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

the walls seemed composed of closed paneled doors, and 
remarked upon this, when the Boer opened one of these 
panels and showed me that the recess behind it contained 
a bed, and that all these doors I saw were simply the en- 
trances to the beds. They therefore all sleep in the one 
room, the Boer, his wife, son, and the three daughters. 
How they manage the disrobing one can only conjecture. 
When they get into bed they simply pull the doors to, and 
there without any ventilation whatever, save that which 
enters through the small pierced hearts in the upper 
panel, they sleep "the sleep of sweet content." The 
Boer can and often does rise to positions of high estate, 
but once and for all he remains, rich or poor, a peasant. 
He is of sterling character, keenly intelligent, extremely 
bigoted, and withal the vital strength of the Netherlands. 
Passing through the country one sees on every hand 
droves of black and white cows, ample in size, generally 
clothed in a jacket, and almost invariably wearing shin- 
ing ear-rings which prove to be pieces of tin, stamped 
each with its registry number. I forgot to obtain one of 
these as a souvenir. These sleek cows and the clean and 
well fed pigs are a familiar sight. Somewhere I have 
read of a character in the Netherlands who had amassed 
such a fortune from pork that whenever he met one of the 
beasts he raised his hat politely. The town of Edam 
even displays upon its municipal arms the figure of a fine 
fat cow, and I saw upon one of the house fronts, over the 

157 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

doorway of a rich retired Boer, who is said to have been 
a butcher, a pig carved in wood with a knife sticking 
through its throat. Thus was this man proud of his vo- 
cation. It is over the rich country called "Betuwe" 
(Goodland) on account of its fertility that the Boer is 
seen in his glory. Surely there was never a more restful 
country. There are broad, grass-grown roads, consider- 
ably above the level of the belt of fields, and the rich 
cherry orchards and farm-steadings, and it is hard to un- 
derstand that the safety of the whole countryside de- 
pends upon the watchful care of the dyke, standing so 
firmly underfoot. But with study and observation, we 
see that every point in the landscape is significant and 
that each building of the farms has its own scheme of pro- 
tection and its own level, and also why the farms and vil- 
lages in the "Binnerwaarden" hug so closely the protect- 
ing dyke. In the summer there is peace for the farmer, 
but in the late winter when the ice breaks up, and the 
river becomes a torrent beneath the ice, and the wind 
changes and the ice melts and the enormous blocks come 
sliding down, mounting the dyke, then it is that the 
watchmen cry out "D'r uut I D'r uuti De Waaol die 
kruuti" (Come out, come out, the ice is drifting) and 
so the countryside is warned of the danger to their prop- 
erty, if not to their lives, and gather in defense. 
Throughout the fall, winter and early spring, the dykes 
are patrolled and watched by throngs of men and boys 

158 



ALKMAAR, THE CHEESE MARKET 

both day and night. They well know that one tiny crev- 
ice in the breastwork neglected may result in the flood- 
ing of the whole countryside, and the destruction of their 
homes. 



159 



^fc^HE Dutch are wholly practical, and it may be said 
lU that their fame and reputation as gardeners is an 
^■■^ entirely commercial one. But we will not go be- 
neath the surface in this chapter, preferring to consider 
the exquisite pictures which we find from the artistic 
standpoint. I am told that there is little estheticism 
among the Dutch, but considering their use of pink and 
green paint, used with such delightful result upon their 
boats and their houses, I am strongly tempted to deny this 
assertion. Traveling through Leyden to Haarlem one 
passes through exquisite fields, flooded with broad sheets 
of scarlet and white and yellow tulips, with occasional 
groups of the peasants busily working between the rows. 
The effect is always unique, and I should advise the trav- 
eler to climb up to the top of one of the windmills for 
the best view. The bulb is generally grown, not for the 
flower but for the "onion," as it is called, and my Dutch 
friend tells me that in the season hundreds of tons of the 
beautiful blossoms are allowed to decay and are thrown 
on these beds as fertilizer. The cultivation of tulips is 
a great business for the Netherlander, and we all remem- 

160 



BY LAND AND SEA 

ber the stories of the great tulip "bubble," when thou- 
sands of florins were paid for one particular bulb, and 
when one single "Semper Augustus" was sold for 13,000 
florins and the government intervened, the law against 
gambling was enforced, and the price of tulips fell to 
nothing. Dealers were beggared in a single night. It 
was Cornelius van Baerle's black tulip which won the 
prize offered by the Horticultural Society at Haarlem. 
The prize was one hundred thousand florins I 

It was in 1637 that this extraordinary mania took pos- 
session of the Dutch, and the merchants became so infat- 
uated that not only they, but nearly every other citizen, 
became engaged in it. The traffic in the bulbs was con- 
ducted with great formality by officers who signed, sealed 
and delivered deeds of transfer. We are told of one va- 
riety named the "Viceroy" which was sold for 2,500 
guilders; and another "Semper Augustus" for a new car- 
riage and pair of "gray" horses and 4,600 guilders be- 
sides I Of this last-named bulb only two were supposed 
to be in existence, one at Amsterdam and the other at 
Haarlem. Signed contracts were delivered and immense 
sums of money paid for bulbs never seen by either buyer 
or seller. They were bought and sold only with refer- 
ence to the rise and fall of their hypothetical value. We 
are told of an estate in one case which had to be sold 
to meet the deficiency of a speculator, who had bound 
himself to deliver a bulb by a certain day, the nominal 

161 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

value of which kept rising in consequence of the refusal 
of the owner to part with it. Fortunes were thus rap- 
idly made and lost, and when, at length, the bubble burst, 
a panic entailing ruin and despair followed. We read of 
one town alone in which was invested in hypothetical 
tulips more than 10,000,000 guilders. 

Spring is the best time to visit Haarlem, and it was in 
the month of May that I first saw it, and falling in with 
a charming old lady in the railway carriage to whom I 
rendered some small attention, she offered me her silver 
candy box, I did not then know, as I took it, that this is 
a most usual form of courtesy in provincial Holland, and 
fortunately I made no mistake in accepting and partak- 
ing of a cinnamon lozenge from her box, which was 
handed to all in the carriage. She had that clear waxen 
complexion which one sees in Franz Hals' paintings, and 
her cap was stiff, and her collar so white, and her dress 
so black, that but for the play of her features she seemed 
unreal. She talked volubly to her neighbors and agreed 
or disagreed in a most charming manner. I took pleasure 
in watching how admirably adapted is the Dutch counte- 
nance for the display of varied emotions and thoughts. 
Across her face flitted each expression as of sun or shadow 
over the meadows, and I quite lost myself in watching it. 
There was also a priest or minister in the carriage, who 
took snuff and occasionally wheezed forth a remonstrance 
which interrupted the conversation like a false note in a 

162 



Haarlem — The Amsterdam Gate 



^\\,\) MvaVi^-iW.sttV. aA'\! — maWaa\i 



I 



BY LAND AND SEA 

tune. I failed to understand what the argument was 
about, but whatever it was, he was a pessimist and al- 
ways began his objections with a shake of the head and 
the words, "Neen, neen, dat ik kan nietl" 

During a lull in the conversation I ventured the infor- 
mation that I was bound for Haarlem to see the tulips 
and hyacinths. At the sound of my voice and my pro- 
nunciation he elongated his neck the better to look at me, 
and ejaculated, "English?" I replied, "No, American." 
To which he responded "Asherbliff" (phonetically). 
This I afterwards found means at will either "Please," 
"Good-by," "Thank you," "How much?" "What did 
you say?" Whether it is really comprehensive as all 
that is a question, but certainly as remarked elsewhere I 
found it most effective and useful in eking out conversa- 
tion. 

I asked to be advised as to a stopping-place somewhat 
outside of the town, and to my amazement and delight 
the old lady, who was examining my sketch book, invited 
me to come with her, and I thankfully accepted her invi- 
tation. She pointed out the different plats of tulips and 
hyacinths as we bumped along in the railway carriage, 
naming each so delightfully that I wished for the art of 
stenography that I might take it down in shorthand. At 
the station a high-bodied tilbury was in waiting, and into 
this I put her innumerable bundles and baskets, and 
helping her up the high step, scrambled in after her, seat- 

163 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

ing myself beside her under the white canvas hood at the 
back. A boy in absurdly short trousers, not short enough 
for knickerbockers, and with a thin neck wound around 
with an orange scarf of many thick folds scrambled up on 
a small seat before us and we were off. The fat, hollow- 
backed horse galloped down the Jans Weg past the 
Groote Kerk and across the Spaarne out into the country, 
where at the end of a lovely shady lane the boy pulled 
up the fat horse. We descended and walked through a 
gate and up a little front garden walk bright with flow- 
ers to the side door of a quaint-looking two-story house 
with much green paint and many wide-paned windows 
with white-painted sashes in black frames. The walks 
between the beds of flowers were of dark burned brick 
set sideways. The old lady opened the door with a large 
brass key and motioned me to enter. The door opened 
upon a sort of corridor — and a sleek black and white cat 
rose lazily from a woven mat and stretched itself, and a 
starling in a wicker cage fluttered about to attract atten- 
tion. Down the middle of the corridor ran a mat well 
and truly laid so that seemingly it deviated not an inch 
to the right or left, and the boards on either side were 
painted a dark red and polished or waxed so that they 
shone. The parlor was a veritable blaze of color, the car- 
pet a mosaic of red, brilliant greens and yellows, and 
looked as though purchased the day before. Antimacas- 
sars, crocheted mats, mirrors in ebony and gilded frames 

164 



BY LAND AND SEA 

there were, all spotless and unscratched. In the big 
cupboards which lined the walls was row upon row of 
fine china; each plate in upright position. Across the 
corridor and through the door opposite was the sleeping 
"Kamer." Here a large, somewhat bare room with a 
table in the center and innumerable doors arranged on 
two walls proved a surprise. I found these doors to be 
sliding ones, and each masked a sort of cupboard in which 
was the bed, which quite fitted the space. One gets into 
the bed at night and then closes the door. I leave it to 
the reader's imagination how I succeeded that night in 
undressing in the common room, but I did it bravely and 
successfully. There was, of course, no such thing as a 
bathroom, but a large basin behind the door in the kitchen 
served me fairly well for the three days I spent with the 
charming old "Vrouwe." She presented me with a fine, 
large sausage when we parted. 

In this region the air is heavy with the odor of flowers, 
which bloom and thrive well in the sandy soil. Be- 
tween the city and the sea lie the great sand dunes, bil- 
lowy and grassy. I saw a large and very beautifully 
kept house in the midst of great trees, a stretch of lovely 
green lawn and a tiny deer park, with the innocent crea- 
tures poking their noses at the passer-by. Here, too, one 
sees many stork nests upon long poles, carefully tended 
by the householders, and over a gate I saw painted the 
name of one of the villas, and a most charming and cozy 

165 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

home it was, "Niet Zoo Quaalyk" (not so bad) , which 
struck me as quaint and true. All in all, Haarlem, al- 
though modern as to houses and villas, has much to attract 
one, and especially, as I have said, in the spring, for later 
in the summer the whole of this part of Holland is hot 
and unbearable. The best part of the town is on the 
Kleine Hout Straat and along the Spaarne, near the Turf 
and Kaas markets, where many types of sixteenth-cen- 
tury gabled houses are still to be seen, and on the east 
side the fine Amsterdam gate, with its medieval fortified 
bastions and towers and turrets in good preservation. 

For many years the question has been debated. Shall 
the Zuyderzee be drained? and many schemes have been 
brought before the authorities to reclaim the area lying 
within a line drawn from Enkhuizen to the island of 
Urk and thence to Kampen. Another scheme provides 
for the carrying on of the work in a system of large sec- 
tions by means of an embankment from Wieringen (the 
island which has become famous as the refuge of the 
former Crown Prince of Germany) to the Frisian coast, 
seventeen feet above high water mark, and carrying a 
railway and a broad road for general traffic. Both 
plans provide for a deep and wide canal to Amster- 
dam. Thirty years is the estimated time required for 
the work, at a cost of many millions of dollars. It is not 
money alone which prevents this great improvement, nor 
yet is it the engineering difficulties. It is questioned 

166 



Enkhulzen — The Jf'eigh House 



^^z\wVi \\\\v^'\^ v,^\'Y_sv>::Uu\<^u'A 



BY LAND AND SEA 

whether or not the reclaimed Polder would be fruitful 
enough for farms, but it would seem as if the authorities 
were satisfied upon this point, for the work has begun 
already. The land reclaimed is to be sold to the peas- 
antry for nominal sums. 

The great Fen district lies in the provinces of Drenthe 
and Groningen. It may be described broadly as a vast 
expanse of sad, russet-colored prairie, dotted with flocks 
of sheep tended by solitary shepherds. Once a vast for- 
est, the trees of which decayed and fell and rotted away, 
the land lay undisturbed for centuries. Now canals 
have been dug miles across the country, with others inter- 
secting at right angles and the water drained from the 
sodden soil. Collections of huts and picturesque dwell- 
ings are seen here and there, inhabited by the peat-cut- 
ters. It is extremely dispiriting to watch the laborers at 
work. They wear especially made boots which protect 
them, and with sharp-edged spades cut out the lumps of 
soggy peat in a very expert manner. The workmen 
stack these small pieces in barrow loads and they are then 
taken to one side, where they are piled with spaces be- 
tween, giving free circulation to the air, which dries them 
rapidly, and the cubes are then ready for market. Huge 
barges carry the peat to market, bringing back sweepings 
and refuse from the town which is spread over the soil 
to fill the excavations. Here are gathered the famous 
"Fen colonies," and there is a certain amount of stir and 

167 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

traffic to be seen. The government maintains these com- 
munities as a sort of charity, and the work is carried on 
mainly by pauper labor. The result, I am told, is not 
even self-supporting, a large deficit having to be met 
every year. The relief of the poor, though it is part of 
the work of the local authority, is in a great degree a 
charge imposed upon the churches, each religious body 
accepting the burden of its own poor; almost all of them 
maintain their own almshouses, and some of them even 
their own hospitals. 

The chief of the penal colonies is at Veenhuizen, and 
convicted beggars and tramps who are able-bodied, and 
also those who have been arrested for drunkenness three 
times within twelve months, are sent here for periods of 
from three months to three years. This is only the case 
with men, female convicts being sent to Rotterdam. 
There are three of these colonies, in which are over 3,000 
convicts. They live in barracks, are fed on black bread, 
with no luxuries whatever, and earn on an average one 
shilling a week, one-third of which is retained by the 
authorities until the release of the convict. They do all 
sorts of work, farming, tailoring, weaving and shoe-mak- 
ing. They manufacture nearly all that they require for 
their own needs. The life seems to be attractive, for I 
am told the same convicts return to the colonies year after 
year. The authorities think the existence of the colonies 
is justified by the fact that by its means thousands of idle 

168 



BY LAND AND SEA 

men are kept off the streets, but the State does not in- 
tend, it is said, to extend the system, and it gives as a 
reason the fact that such colonies have never exerted an 
educative influence, and that it is doubtful if the inmates 
are ever really reformed, for it has been discovered that 
many of the inmates are sent here with a connivance of 
the authorities, that is to say, the police, especially dur- 
ing the severe winter season. But it must be said that 
the system is carried on in an altogether admirable man- 
ner which we might well emulate in America. 

There are in Holland three great universities : Leyden, 
which was established in 1575; Groningen, 1614; 
Utrecht, in 1634. The first named was for two centuries 
the most famous in Europe, far more renowned in the sev- 
enteenth century than were Oxford, Cambridge or Paris. 
Some of the scholars of the age, such as Scaliger, Grotius, 
Arminius, Gomarus and Descartes, were connected with 
it. It is still well known, principally as a school of medi- 
cine and science. Fielding, the novelist, is reported to 
have been a pupil, as was Oliver Goldsmith. The library 
is the finest in all Holland, containing some 300,000 vol- 
umes and a collection of priceless and unique manu- 
scripts. The University of Groningen is now less fash- 
ionable than that of Leyden, but it is in a flourishing con- 
dition and its handsome buildings ornament the town. 
I did not gain entrance to it, however. Of the Univer- 
sity of Utrecht, too, I am unable to speak with authority, 

169 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

for my time in that town was very brief and I only saw 
it from a distance. Those who wish to read upon this 
point may consult Boswell's amusing letters to Dr. John- 
son. 

One of the quaintest spots in the whole of the Nether- 
lands is "St. Anna's," at Leyden. My Dutch friend 
brought me to the doorway on the "Hooigracht," which 
is marked St. Anna's "Hof je," which means almshouse. 
The door was open and gave upon a long passage leading 
to a little cloistered square. 

One seemed to have stepped into the seventeenth 
century, and maybe the buildings existed as they now 
stand away back in 1492, when the almshouse was built. 
The buildings are all out of perpendicular. There is a 
quaint little chapel, about twelve feet square, which I am 
informed has not been changed in any feature since that 
date. There is a painting here by Lucas van Leidan, 
and above the chapel is the tiny room of the priest, con- 
taining the furniture as he left it, his confessional chair, 
the small, oak-paneled recess for his bed, his copper warm- 
ing-pan, and the iron chest for his collections. Here, 
living in delightful quietude, live a number of nice, clean 
old ladies, who seem perfectly happy and who greet one 
with great politeness. Each old lady has a room to her- 
self with a little wall bed in a cupboard with nice, clean 
sheets and pillow, and a pantry containing a cup and 
saucer, a plate, a bowl, a knife and fork and a towel. 

170 



Harlingen, from the Water 



•v^\a"^\^ m\\ s«ov\ ,Kt»'^KiVuiV\ 



BY LAND AND SEA 

Above the general living-room is the kitchen, which is 
likewise of delightful cleanliness. One old lady pointed 
out the flat stone before the chapel marking the entrance 
to the secret passage from the cloisters to the church. I 
have a lively recollection of the charming smile and the 
low courtesy which the old lady made when I dropped a 
small piece of silver in her hand. 

Everything about Groningen [pronounced H-ron- 
ing'n] seems in good order and very prosperous. Scat- 
tered all about are the handsome, well-kept habitations 
of the farmer, sometimes three-story stone or brick houses, 
well built and substantial, with a hedge-like row of 
clipped trees and before these neat gardens with grass 
plots and bright flowers. At the back of the house, which 
its peak often overtops, is the huge red-tiled roof of the 
barn, large enough for the complete housing of the crops, 
for the comfortable accommodation of its live stock and 
much besides. On every side is the evidence of wealth, 
and the absence of poverty suggests the richness of the 
soil and a most skillful and industrious people. Here is 
the town pump, about which a throng of women and girls 
were waiting in turn to fill the pails that hung from 
wooden, brass-bound, green-painted neck-yokes. They 
were chatting gaily, quite heedless of the rain which had 
begun to fall. Evidently their stout woolen dresses 
could not be injured, and certainly they themselves 
looked hearty enough to withstand any amount of such 

171 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

exposure. Like all the women of their class, their heads 
bore the marvelous cap of the province, which consists of 
a closely fitting cap, or muts, of white cotton, another, 
equally close, of black silk, and over these a solid plaque 
of shining gold or silver covering the whole head, save a 
small space at the crown. The side pieces like wings 
stretch upward from beside each eye. They are not 
quite as large as the blinders of a horse's bridle, and the 
band by which these are joined at the back is three inches 
wide. This is the head-gear worn by the working women 
even in the early morning, but on fete days and Sunday 
they wear the added decoration of engraved, embossed, 
or filigree ornaments of the same metal nearly two inches 
across, attached to the front of the plate, and making the 
effect of gold or silver rosettes beside each eye. On un- 
usual occasions they will wear a fourth covering of very 
thin lace drawn close over the forehead and hanging in a 
full cape behind. I went to buy one of these gold 
plaques as a curiosity, not knowing its value. The 
cheapest one, I found, was priced one hundred and ten 
gulden, about %^^ in our money. The silver ones, of 
course, are cheaper, but still very costly. At last I found 
one of gilded brass, but I was told with disdain by the 
shopkeeper that no peasant girl would sacrifice her self- 
respect and wear a thing like that. Alas, I saw in the 
street as I came out of the shop a peasant woman of the 
better class, wearing her beautiful lace cap, on which was 

172 



BY LAND AND SEA 

perched a most atrocious French bonnet with a bunch of 
impossible fruit and flowers and surmounted by a long 
black ostrich feather. Thus has the fashion of Paris pen- 
etrated even to this out-of-the-way spot. 

Although it was summer time, I do not remember ever 
seeing an open window in a private house in the Nether- 
lands. They are generally curtained with lace and have 
a vase of flowers conspicuously displayed. Glancing 
within, the people seem to the casual observer to be per- 
petually engaged in making and drinking tea, for there 
is generally seen on a polished mahogany table a lavishly 
brass-bound pail of burning peat, with a polished hot 
water kettle over it, all ready for instant use. There is 
something very engaging in a country which can so se- 
renely preserve its original character amid the whirl of 
twentieth-century changes, where you can buy a good 
cigar for a cent, and an American woman would be fol- 
lowed and her costume smiled at by a peasant wearing 
the absurd French bonnet to which I have alluded. To 
the very comfortable hotel we returned to pass the night, 
and found a very good supper of boiled eggs, veal cutlets, 
many varieties of cheese and hot tea, fresh from a neat lit- 
tle kitchen, all shining with brass and bright tiles. But 
one must not believe in the exaggeration of the guide 
books. There are to be found in the Netherlands no such 
ridiculous customs and contrasts as they would have you 
believe. The keels of ships do not float above the chim- 

173 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

neys of the houses, nor does the frog croaking in the bul- 
rushes gaze upon the swallows upon the house-tops. 

And now let us go down to the North Sea and see how 
the Dutch people enjoy themselves in the summer. Of 
course the largest of the watering-places in the Nether- 
lands is Scheveningen, and it has a splendid bathing 
beach, which makes it an attractive resort for fashionable 
Germans and Hollanders, and for summer travelers from 
all over the world. At the top of the long dyke is a row 
of hotels and restaurants, and when one reaches this point 
after passing through the lovely old wood of stately trees 
one is suddenly ushered into the twentieth century, for 
here all is fashion and gay life, yet with a character all its 
own. Along the edge of the beach are the bathing ma- 
chines in scores, and behind them are long lines of cov- 
ered wicker chairs of peculiar form, each with its foot- 
stool, where one may sit, shaded from the sun and shel- 
tered from the wind, and read, chat or doze by the hour. 
Bath women are seen quaintly clad with their baskets of 
bathing dresses and labeled with the signs bearing their 
names, such as "Trintje" or "Netje"; everywhere there 
are sightseers, peddlers calling their wares, children dig- 
ging in the sand, strolling players performing and the 
sound of bands of music in the distance. So there is no 
lack of amusement here during the season. The spa- 
cious "Kurhaus" with its verandas and "Kursaal," which 
is large enough to accommodate 2,500 people, is in the 

174 



BY LAND AND SEA 

center of the dyke. There are concerts every evening, 
and although the town is filled with hotels during the 
months of June, July, August and September, they are 
quite monopolized by the Hollanders and the prices are 
very high. The magnificent pier is 450 yards long. 
The charges for bathing are very moderate, varying from 
tv^^enty cents for a small bathing box to fifty cents for a 
large one, including the towels. Bathing costumes range 
from five to twenty-five cents. The tickets are num- 
bered, and as soon as a machine is vacant a number is 
called by the "bad man" and the holder of the corre- 
sponding number claims the machine. The basket chairs 
cost for the whole day only twenty cents, Dutch money. 
One may obtain a subscription to the "Kurhaus" at a 
surprisingly reasonable rate for the day, week or season. 
There is a daily orchestra; ballet and operatic concerts 
once a week; dramatic performances and frequent hops 
throughout the season. There is a local saying that when 
good Dutchmen die they go to Scheveningen, and this is 
certainly their heaven. To stand on the pier on a fine 
day during the season looking down on these long lines 
of wicker chairs, turned seaward, is an astonishing sight. 
They are shaped somewhat like huge snail shells, and 
around these the children delight to dig in the sand, 
throwing up miniature dunes around one. Perhaps no 
seashore in the world has been painted so much as Schev- 
eningen. Mesdag, Maris, Alfred Stevens, to name only 

175 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

a few of the artists, have found here themes for many 
paintings, and the scene is a wonderful one when the 
homing fleet of "Boms," as the fishing-boats are called, 
appears in the offing to be welcomed by the fisherwomen. 
There are other smaller watering-places on the coast, but 
Scheveningen is unique. 

In the little fishing town itself, the scene on the return 
of the men is very interesting. Women and children are 
busily hurrying about from house to house, and every- 
where in the little streets are strange signs chalked up on 
the shutters, such as "water en vuur te koop," that is, 
water and fire for sale; and here are neatly painted buck- 
ets of iron, each having a kettle of boiling water over it 
and a lump of burning turf at the bottom. Fish is being 
cleaned and the gin shops are well patronized, for it seems 
a common habit in this moist northern climate frequently 
to take what they call "Een sneeuwballetje" of gin and 
sugar, which does not taste at all bad, be it said. All 
sorts of strange-looking people are met in the little nar- 
row street, and all doing strange-looking things, but with 
the air of its being in no wise unusual with them. All in 
all, Scheveningen is an entertaining spot in which to lin- 
ger. But remember, one pays florins here, not francs. 

The names of the fishing boats are sufficiently curious 
to demand space. In the summer the herring fishery is 
carried on from the town of Scheveningen, Vlaardingen, 
Maasluis, Katwijk, Noordwijk, the Helder, and the 

176 



Delftshaven 



-DAY 

hemes f'_ 



iiri.ji.icilLl}' 

of sir. snd 



BY LAND AND SEA 

South Holland Island villages, Middel Harnis, Pernis 
and Zwuartewaal. The boats are named Hooker, Hoek- 
erbuis. Logger, Sloop, Bom, Tjalk; and in these boats, 
which are known in English as busses, swordpinks, flat- 
bottoms and Holland toads, the fishing industry is car- 
ried on. In the discovery of 1380 by Willem Beukels- 
zoon, native of the Zeeland village Biervliet, of the art of 
preserving the herring with salt, the Dutch fisheries be- 
came extremely profitable, and the method of preserving 
the fish is, I am told, the same to-day. These strangely 
named boats patrol all of the seas, practically, of the 
North, and even in the winter there is a considerable in- 
dustry in the cod fishery. The "buss" is the oldest 
known model of all. Models of these may be seen hang- 
ing from the ceiling of the church at Maasluis, but the 
large, square, flat-bottomed "boms" which we see on the 
beach at Scheveningen are the most familiar of all, and 
they came into being from the fact that most of the towns 
on the coast are without harbors and they are required to 
run up on the sand. In the month of June, which was 
called the herring month in the olden time, the herring 
hunters, bearing the blue flag at the masthead, pursued 
the herring in the North Sea, and eagerly the town of 
Vlaardingen watched for the first sight of the returning 
vessels. The people thronged to the dykes, and when 
the blue flag was run up on the tower, they all shouted 
the song called "Die Nieuwe Harang." When the catch 

177 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

was brought ashore there was tremendous excitement 
among the buyers as to which should purchase the first 
herring, the price of which was often absurd. But all 
this is now a thing of the past, and at the present day 
Vlaardingen pays, I am told, but little attention to the 
herring, cod and haddock having taken its place. 

Delft, which in the eighteenth century was so cele- 
brated the world over for its pottery and porcelain, has 
lately revived the industry in a very modern manufac- 
tory. It cannot be said, however, that the Delft ware of 
the present day equals in any respect the beautiful work- 
manship of old. There is an interesting institution, the 
town hospital, which contains four remarkable, anatom- 
ical pictures, one of which is said to be the earliest paint- 
ing of the kind, executed in 1617 by Van Mierevelt. 
The other two are of later date. One should visit here 
the celebrated model room of the dock yard, which con- 
tains many remarkable models of ships and mills. Near 
the Rotterdam gate is a large, gloomy building, partly 
surrounded by water and showing the arms of the Dutch 
Republic. It was originally used as a warehouse by the 
East India Company. On the "Oude Delft" is the 
"Prinsenhof," the scene of the assassination of William 
of Orange, the founder of Dutch independence, who was 
assassinated here on the lOth of July, 1584. The spot 
where the tragedy took place is on the first floor by the 
staircase. The murderer was a Burgundian, Balthasar 

178 



BY LAND AND SEA 

Gerhard, who, prompted by a desire for gain, lay in wait 
for his victim and shot him when he descended the stair- 
case. The custode grimly points out the mark left by the 
fatal bullet. The assassin's fate was a horrible one. 
He was torn to pieces by red-hot pincers. [See Mot- 
ley's "Rise and Fall of the Dutch Republic."] The fine 
Gothic "Oude Kerk" with a leaning tower enshrines the 
monument of Admiral Maarten Harpertzoon Tromp, 
victor of thirty-two naval battles. It was he who, de- 
feating the English fleet under Blake, lashed a broom to 
his masthead, signifying that he had swept the sea. 
There is also a monument to Piet Hein, the admiral 
of the India Company, who in 1628 captured the Spanish 
silver fleet, valued at 12,000,000 florins. In his honor an 
amusing comic song is still sung. In the Niewe Kerk is 
a magnificent monument, the work of Hendrik de Keyser 
and A. Quellin, erected in 1621, to the memory of Wil- 
liam of Orange. The great Prince, sculptured in mar- 
ble, reclines on a black sarcophagus at full length beneath 
a sort of canopy upheld by four curious pillars, cut in 
marble. There are four allegorical figures. Liberty, Jus- 
tice, Prudence and Religion. At the statue's head is an- 
other in bronze, showing William in full military uni- 
form. The bronze figure of Fame with outspread wings 
is at the foot. Below the feet lies the Prince's favorite 
dog, who saved his life in 1572 at his camp at Malines in 
Belgium when he was attacked by two Spanish assassins. 

179 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

Here likewise repose the remains of his wife and his son, 
Prince Maurice. Hugo Grotius also lies here under- 
neath a very simple monument. There are some fine 
paintings in the handsome Stadhuis in the market-place. 
What is called a "corporation piece" shows a great num- 
ber of gesticulating figures signed by J. W. Delph, 1592. 
These are said to be the "Arquebusiers." There are also 
here a large number of portraits of the Princes of Orange. 
The town is a quiet and silent place, a veritable "drowsie- 
town." The Earl of Leicester, visiting it in 1585, de- 
scribes it as "another London almost for beauty and fair- 
ness." Sir Robert Cecil traveling in Holland in 1588 
recorded it as "the finest built town he ever saw." 
Pepys called it "a most sweet towne," and many other 
more modern writers have followed suit and have praised 
it. 

There are indeed few towns which better retain their 
ancient aspect than the old and grave town of Delft, 
where massive dark houses are aligned along both sides 
of sleepy umbrageous canals, on which float barges of 
archaic build, lavishly striped with green paint and 
trimmed with shining brass. The town is a very silent 
one, save for the chimes which sound clearly and not un- 
musically, and it would seem as if the people themselves 
feel the solemn influence of the quietude, for they seem 
to move slowly in the streets, and there is little or none of 
the noise and bustle met with in Rotterdam. Delft 

180 




Delft— The "New Church" 



"'^?,:^P^^^']YI\^^n^'V^ — ^\^>^^ 



BY LAND AND SEA 

seems of the past, but it has a very thriving Polytechnic 
School at which hundreds of young Hollanders are study- 
ing engineering, the better to cope with the perpetual 
menace of the sea. The skill of the Dutch engineer is 
proverbial, and to this well equipped school come many 
students from the colonies and South America. 

The name Delft means simply blue Dutch plates to 
most people, but the plates that are now made here are 
not at all real "blue Delft." The ancient secret of the 
blue color, and the porcelain, seems to be a lost formula. 
Modern Delft is pretty and cheap — this characterizes it. 
There is, however, I am informed, a new fabrication of 
"faience," which merits respect, especially that made by 
the house of Brouwer at Leiderdorp, and by Lanooy at 
Gouda. In the museum Van Meerton is a very choice 
collection of old Delft ware which is displayed with much 
knowledge and judgment. 

The Dutch regard Delft as one of the most important 
historical towns in the Netherlands. In the "Oude 
Kerk," the antiquary interested in such matters may read 
another page in the history of the Netherlands, for "the 
most glorious souvenirs are there to be found." So says 
my Dutch friend, whose knowledge of these matters is 
profound. 

The ancient "Prinsenhof" was the palace of Princes of 
Orange, and within its walls "William the Taciturn" re- 
ceived from the people, as founder of their independence, 

181 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

his title of honor. Here, as is well known, he was assas- 
sinated on July lOth, 1584. 

In the "Nieuwe Kerk" is his mausoleum, erected by 
the people as a token of their veneration. 

The sculptor Hendrik de Keyzer, inspired by the 
character of this remarkable man, produced in this tomb 
a work of art of striking originality and beauty. In the 
crypt repose the remains of all of the Princes of the House 
of Orange. 

In the great tower is a fine set of bells, played by "tam- 
bour," so it is said. I did not hear them, however, as re- 
pairs were under way. 

Here also were born the painters Van Mierevelt and 
Jan Vermeer. "A remarkable town I Is this not so, 
Mynheer?" asks my enthusiastic Dutch friend, pausing 
for breath, and eyeing me somewhat anxiously. "Is not 
Delft a most remarkable town*?" I most earnestly as- 
sure him that it is — "A most remarkable town!" 

Here was built an exact model or reproduction of the 
little Haalve Maan (Half Moon), the ship in which the 
intrepid English mariner, Hendrik Hudson, sailed in 
quest of the Northwest passage, discovering the noble 
river which is now named in his honor. This little ship 
sailed across the ocean, convoyed by a Dutch man-of-war, 
to attend the ceremonies incidental in New York to the 
celebrating of the three hundredth anniversary of the dis- 
covery. Thus Holland is not behind in honoring the 

182 



BY LAND AND SEA 

memory of the Englishman, whom she so generously rec- 
ognized and supported when his own country turned its 
back upon him. So once more, the Hudson bore upon its 
bosom the Half-Moon, but this time it cast anchor in the 
shadow of the mighty piles of masonry of Manhattan. 
The craft represents a three-masted vessel, the fore and 
main masts are rigged with yards, the mizzen mast with a 
lateen sail. The measurements of the original ship, 
which were found in the archives of the East India Com- 
pany and reproduced, are: Length 63 feet, beam 17 
feet, tonnage 89 tons. The armament consists of four 
guns. This vessel now lies at a dock in New York up 
near the Harlem River rotting away for want of care. 



183 



Wsf SM^r 



^I^HE Hollander takes his pleasures very seriously, 
flu and he undoubtedly thinks himself justified in so 
^^^ doing ; his business during the day is carried on in 
a very business-like way, but when he goes to his luncheon 
at midday he foregathers at his clubs and in the restau- 
rants with a great show of leisure. I do not refer now to 
the peasantry, but rather to the better class. Although 
my knowledge of the Dutch language is rather elemen- 
tary, as necessarily a foreigner's must be, from the charac- 
ter of the tongue, which is most difficult, I have witnessed 
what must be characterized as very good performances at 
the play-houses in Amsterdam, which were certainly 
received with great enthusiasm by the audiences. Con- 
siderable taste is manifested in the theaters, and they 
seem to be well supported, although the prices are rather 
high. But one feature is missed, and agreeably so : the 
ticket speculator. This individual is conspicuous by his 
absence. 

In Amsterdam are the "Stad Schouwburg," devoted to 
the Dutch drama and French opera ; the Grand Theater, 
the Park Schouwburg, in the oriental style of decoration 
and given up to the spectacular; the "Frascati" and nu- 

184 



THE THEATER 

merous cafes chantants. In these last smoking and 
drinking are permitted. The large theaters are closed in 
the summer, as the better classes are at the seaside resorts, 
but at the 'Taleis Voor Volksvlijt," said to hold 12,000 
people, there are occasional concerts, and also in the zo- 
ological gardens, and in the "Vondel Park," or at the 
"Tolhuis," a large tea garden situated on the farther bank 
of the Y. From this garden is a fine view of the lighted 
city at night, and the music of an excellent military band 
may be enjoyed. 

In the curious old "Pyl-Steeg" in Amsterdam there is 
a quaint shop, said to have been founded in 1575, to 
which I was directed by my Dutch friend, and here in a 
tiny damp street, where I could actually touch the houses 
on either hand, I found a thin, dried-up old fellow sitting 
behind a leaden-covered counter under a double row of 
fat, wide, high-waisted black bottles, ranged on a shelf 
above his head, each bottle decorated with a well-painted 
head, or a scene copied from one of Teniers' pictures, and 
not too badly done, either. While I was studying these 
with interest, for I had never seen so many of them at 
once, the bric-a-brac shops in America having occasion- 
ally one or two for which they ask very large prices, my 
friend gave an order and the old fellow, seizing one of the 
bottles by the neck with a deft turn of his wrist, unerr- 
ingly ejected a gurgling modicum of the contents into 
each glass before him. These glasses are very flat, some- 

185 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

thing like a morning-glory cup with long, thin stem, 
and they hold very little. The act was done with such 
skill that I expressed my surprise that he did not spill a 
drop, and when this was explained to the old fellow he 
seemed much pleased, and placing some fresh glasses be- 
fore him repeated the feat with great rapidity for my en- 
tertainment. One is supposed to drink the bitters with- 
out touching the hand to the glass, this feat being per- 
formed by stooping over the glass and sipping it up, after 
which one may drain the glass in the ordinary way. This 
was my introduction to the celebrated "Maag Bitter" 
shop where the Amsterdamer has taken his bitters for 
years. 

The stork is an interesting institution, the birds being 
treated with great and singular respect in the Nether- 
lands. These strange birds may be seen here and there, 
almost everywhere in the south, but I do not remember 
seeing any in the north. The house selected by the stork 
for a nesting place is considered fortunate, and very 
special facilities are provided by the householders to en- 
able it to build a nest comfortably. At The Hague many 
of these birds are maintained at public expense. The 
first that I saw was from a window of the railway train as 
we were crossing the "Hollandsdiep," when a chimney- 
top came into view on which were two of the long-legged 
creatures, preening themselves, their nest, an unsightly 
bundle of sticks and straw, littering the house-top. 

186 



THE THEATER 

The tobacco shops in the towns are certainly unique, 
the Hollander being a great smoker. The shops are 
very frequent in the large cities, and the merchant has a 
curious way of piling up the cigar boxes in most fan- 
tastic shapes and combinations, both in the window and 
inside the shop, so that one sometimes fears lest the whole 
fabric will come tumbling down about his ears. Tobacco 
is surprisingly cheap in the Netherlands, cigars ranging 
from a penny (Dutch) up. After a long experience and 
a considerable expenditure, I discovered that as a rule the 
penny ones are almost as good as those marked twenty- 
five cents. 

The drug stores are so entirely unlike ours that they 
call for comment. Over the door, which is invariably 
kept closed and is quite small and narrow, suggesting 
sometimes a private house, hangs a painted and gilded 
wooden head usually surmounted by a turban. This is 
called a "Gaper." Why, I cannot discover. The heads 
are of various styles and shapes ; some are black, some are 
red, some are yellow, as of the negro or the Chinaman, but 
they one and all have wide, staring eyes and huge, red, 
open mouths. Coming upon one suddenly in a back 
street, by a quiet canal, I somewhat timidly turned the 
handle of the door — a bell on a spring loudly tinkled as I 
entered, but no one responded. The room, a small one, 
with sanded floor, was permeated by the odor of strange 
drugs and herbs; bottles of all shapes and sizes, bearing 

187 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

gilded inscriptions in Latin, were closely ranged on 
shelves all about; at the farther end was a high coun- 
ter, on which were more bottles and several fine, brass- 
mounted Delft jars with their peculiar blue decorations. 
The floor was nicely sanded in ornamental figures. I 
looked in vain for the soda-water fountain, so dear to our 
American hearts, for the candy counter, and the soap and 
tooth brushes. I found them not; then all at once I be- 
came aware of a pair of bright eyes regarding me fixedly 
from a point of vantage between the two large, brass- 
topped Delft jars. Then I saw the face of a young 
woman. The stare which she bestowed upon me was 
calm and very disconcerting. We gazed into each oth- 
er's eyes for several moments, and then I became very 
much embarrassed. I coughed nervously behind my 
hand. "Jungjuffrow," I began haltingly. "What will 
mynheer have ?" she asked composedly. 

True enough, thought I — what will I have ? What do 
apothecaries have to sell? Of course — pills I Then 
said I aloud, and even brilliantly, "Pills! jungjuffrow." 

"But what kind, mynheer?" said she, coming from be- 
hind the counter. 

"Why," said I, with great inspiration (I could not 
think of the Dutch word at the moment) , "large pills, 
twenty-five cents worth"; at which she looked at me so 
strangely, and she was so pretty that I became more and 
more disconcerted, so that when she gave them to me I 

188 



THE THEATER 

did not examine them, but placing a coin in her hand, de- 
parted rather hurriedly, as if I had intruded, and when I 
was once more in the street and I saw the water of the 
canal I went over very quietly and dropped the box of 
pills into it. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw her 
watching me with that calm, disconcerting gaze, and I 
also saw in the other windows rows of other faces, both 
old and young, likewise regarding me. Then my eyes 
ranged back to the window where I last saw the face of 
the "jungjuffrow." She lifted her hand, pulling the cur- 
tain aside, the better to watch me, and certainly she had 
reason to think me a suspicious character. So I fled. 

The steam tramway system of Holland is most enter- 
taining. Often it has been my pleasure to wait for a 
tram underneath the shelter of a wayside inn and watch 
its meandering approach under the shady boughs of the 
fine trees, watching the sunlight and shadow play upon 
it as it bumped and puffed along the quiet street with its 
noisy bell, and finally to swing myself aboard with a nod 
of greeting to the uniformed conductor, who takes up his 
fares in a rattling sort of tin savings-bank with a handle 
and a spout which he thrusts before each passenger in 
turn. One who loves nature and his fellow-beings may 
enjoy himself to the full on one of these trams. If the 
proper study of mankind is man then here may one pass 
his time most profitably. Invariably I have fallen in with 
some good-humored loquacious peasant, on his way to or 

189 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

from market, and always have I met with kindness and 
consideration. Traveling in this way is cheap and most 
convenient. And the landscape; how shall I describe it? 
,The meadows with fat kine, the mills of a hundred varie- 
ties, the villas with their charming grounds, and the golf 
greens — it will surprise you to know that golf was played 
by the Hollanders long before it had yet found its way 
into England. My authority is found in many of the old 
paintings of the Netherlands artists. Of course in late 
years there has been a great awakening in the game, and 
now there are many most flourishing clubs throughout the 
country. A most charming tram ride through pic- 
turesque scenery is that one from Amsterdam to Hil- 
versum and through Laren, lovely Laren, beloved by ar- 
tists, thence to Naarden and Muiden, over flat, open 
meadows dotted with jacketed black and white cows 
calmly grazing and tended by solitary peasants clad in 
pale blue blouses, which Mauve loved so well to paint, 
and who gaze at the passing tram stolidly. Running be- 
tween level stretches of "mere" and "Polder,"' and finally 
into a sandy country where sparse firs grow, we then come 
upon the towers of Nijkerk, Harderwijk, Utrecht, and 
Amersfoort. Here, as I have said, Mauve painted his 
masterpieces in both oil and water color — very lovely 
transcripts of nature they are too, and this hallowed spot 
is venerated by a colony of loyal artists, all of whom are 

190 



THE THEATER 

following the ways of the master and continuing his pre- 
cepts. 

One thing that impresses one strangely is the scarcity 
of men and boys on the canals. Women and girls there 
are aplenty on the boats, busily polishing and scrubbing 
and dipping up pails of water, and hanging out long lines 
of bright-colored garments to dry, and generally there is 
an excited black dog, nervously running from one end 
of the dock to the other, scanning suspiciously the surface 
of the water and all passing objects. But man is con- 
spicuous by his absence. Whenever he is present he 
seems to be at his ease, lazily sitting on the ornamental 
tiller, pipe in mouth and seemingly lost in thought. The 
Dutch boat is immaculately clean, the decks are spotless, 
and wherever there is a bit of brass, it is polished to the 
last degree. The barges are invariably named, as The 
Lion of Flanders, or The Great William, or The Golden 
Sun. The Golden Tulip seems to be the favorite name, 
and the long, curved tiller of the rudder, which is most 
wonderfully carved, varnished, and gilded, is further en- 
riched as a rule with a highly impossible crouching lion. 
There is a small deck house in the after part of the barge, 
and here are tiny, deep, curtained windows, in which are 
invariably pots of blooming tulips or geraniums. De- 
scending to the interior, there are generally two rooms; 
the first, used as a kitchen and dining-room, has a shiny, 

191 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

black, cast-iron stove, mounted on absurdly high legs and 
lavishly trimmed with brass, fastened in a box of sand. 
The chimney pipe goes up through the roof, and where 
the hole pierces the ceiling there are festoons of bright 
rosettes of paper flowers. On the walls are the pots and 
pans of brass and copper, brightly burnished, and two 
starlings are in a wicker cage. A fat, sleek cat is gen- 
erally on a cushion in a chair, and there is a row of braided 
strings of onions and sausage hanging from the ceiling. 
The floor is sanded prettily. There is usually on the 
wall a framed picture of the Queen in her Friesland head- 
dress, and the marriage certificate of the captain and his 
wife, gorgeously emblazoned. In the other small room 
leading off from this, are the berths of the captain, his 
wife, and the children. Traveling in this manner 
through the canals one sees every kind of fantastic boat 
imaginable in a long line, stretching out ahead and 
astern. Passing into the rivers and hoisting sail, one 
overtakes them slowly one by one, saluting the lusty 
vrouws, courteously, and throwing an apple or a piece of 
candy to the children, peering out of the doors of the 
deckhouses or lifting aside the white muslin curtains and 
flattening their little noses against the glass to gaze at 
us. Here and there are shining beds of mud in the 
stream, surrounded by -curlews, circling gulls, and herons, 
all seemingly as tame as barn-door fowls. As I have 
said, some of the boats are lavishly painted, and the water 

192 



Leeuzvarden- — The Stern of a River Boat 



l-iCil I 



.n tins maiuK I 

vv^.v '^' ^r^ntastic boat 

\ rtretr- ahead and 



\Roft fNTiSl ft \u MviiVi ^A V — w<iWvft(JivJ%'Jvi 




--iiiiiip^-ia-^-' --i^i*'— ^„j^^_,,^ 



THE THEATER 

barrels on their decks will be decorated by green paint, 
polished brass, and some with well painted landscapes, 
or naval battles, or bunches of flowers upon them. The 
masts of the vessel, which are hinged at the base to permit 
them being dropped at the bridges, will often be set off 
by a beautiful piece of hammered iron work, and the 
brown hulls are so richly varnished that one may almost 
see one's face in them. This procession of vessels, wind- 
ing between the shoals and dykes, with swelling, velvety, 
tanned brown sails and gaily streaming flags, forms a 
most beautiful picture against the ever changing back- 
ground of Dutch landscape, mottled by the fleeting shad- 
ows of the sun, with an occasional red roof or mill here 
and there among the rows of willows. 

It was in early June that I first traveled through the 
"Waterland," and it must have been an unusually wet 
time. Everywhere the meadows seemed flooded, and 
there were long, sad-looking stretches of yellowish water 
spread over the landscape, but this is all good for the 
country, I am told, although dispiriting to the traveler, 
who is forced to get his entertainment at the wayside inns. 
The ordinary Dutch breakfast at these waysides is very 
different from that to which we are accustomed, and as a 
rule at first provokes hilarity among Americans; after- 
wards it provokes an entirely opposite spirit. Here the 
guests of the inn will sit at a long table, covered with 
an array of dishes containing every variety of cold meat 

193 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

and sausage, various kinds of bread and cake, and huge 
bowls of cold, boiled eggs. Why cold eggs, I cannot un- 
derstand, but I have never been served with hot ones, ex- 
cepting upon order and even then under protest. The 
peasant is a great eater, and one marvels at the quanti- 
ties of sausage, rolls, veal, and ham, with great piles of 
ginger-bread and raw onions, which he consumes. The 
peasant will take a hard-boiled egg, knock it on the table 
edge, cut it with a knife, peel it, dip it in the salt bowl, 
and put the whole mass into his mouth at once, gazing at 
one with his watery blue eyes as he slowly masticates it. 
I saw my opposite neighbor eat fourteen in this way, and 
he then sighed and told me he wasn't hungry. I have 
heard tales of egg competitions among the villagers at 
which prodigious, gastronomical feats are performed, but 
I am sorry to say I never witnessed one. After eating the 
fourteen eggs, my vis-a-vis finished his light breakfast 
with a huge dish of honey, which he ate with a tablespoon. 
I could stand no more, so I left the room. 

On the way through the country, the traveler on foot 
will find the farmers and their wives most kindly and 
hospitable. In nearly every case one will be asked to en- 
ter and refreshments will be set out on the table, for 
which pay will be accepted under no consideration. 
There is generally a treasure chest in the house, the con- 
tents of which will be gladly displayed, and often most 
delightful bargains may be had in the most out-of-the-way 

194 



THE THEATER 

places. It was an opportunity such as this that put into 
my hands, at a moderate price, a lovely silver headband. 
These bands are worn over a tight, black cap, and are 
from two to three inches wide, fitting tightly around the 
skull and culminating at each eye with a little, silver or- 
nament called a "Hoofdijzer." This band is in its turn 
covered by a white muslin cap, but not always. These 
charming old vrouws are often very generous. I remem- 
ber one household in which I coveted a lovely piece of 
beaten brass, and she told me that "sometimes" she ex- 
changed her old pieces for new ones, and I promptly went 
back to the village and bought a new brass milk can, 
with which I returned. She seemed incredulous when 
I asked her to exchange with me and called in her daugh- 
ters, who stood shyly in the doorwa}'', their beautiful lace 
caps clouding their pretty faces, as they regarded me with 
open-mouthed amazement. She declared that she could 
not take the beautiful new brass milk can from me, giving 
only in return the old patched kettle. In vain I at- 
tempted to explain to her that the old one was what I 
wanted, and that the new ones were quite useless to me, 
and that I was really getting the best of the bargain. She 
waived this aside unbelievingly, and insisted upon throw- 
ing in two lovely pierced brass candlesticks and a little 
walnut foot-stove, one of the finest I have ever seen, and 
even then she said that her neighbors would blame her for 
defrauding me. Dear old dame, I shall never forget 

195 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

you! I have heard it urged that the Hollander is not 
partial to and has no kindly feelings towards the painter, 
but I have not experienced this myself. I have every- 
where met with the greatest kindness and consideration. 
It is true that I have been told of the experience of an 
American artist at Marken who was stoned for making 
sketches and his canvases spoiled by sand and dirt being 
thrown upon them. If such happenings are true, then it 
must have been the fault of the men themselves. The 
Markenites are very religious people, and one should be 
careful not to offend their sensibilities. They keep to a 
very strict mode of Lutheranism, and some of them really 
believe that the making of pictures is a violation of the 
first commandment. 

I remember Whistler getting into trouble at Dort. 
My friend Van s'Gravesande, the noted etcher, and I had 
left Whistler in the morning, as he said he wished to make 
a little sketch in a neighboring street. Toward noon we 
thought we would go down to see how he was getting on 
with it, and as we turned down a small alleyway leading 
to a canal, we saw a crowd of people and heard many an- 
gry, excited voices. It was Whistler, of course, and he 
was surrounded by a crowd of angry fishwomen, who were 
threatening to throw him into the canal, amid all of 
which the great man was calmly waving his little brush at 
the excited people. Seizing one of the fishermen by the 
arm, my friend demanded in Dutch to know what was the 

196 



THE THEATER 

trouble, and the man explained to him volubly. It 
seemed that Whistler had discovered a little shop near 
the canal, the window of which was full of oranges and 
lemons, and this, with the green paint of the shutters and 
the brilliant purple sign-board, formed a scheme of color 
which he was unable to resist. He, however, had ob- 
jected to the arrangement of the oranges in the window, 
and insisted upon changing them to his own satisfaction, 
in spite of the remonstrances of the shop-keeper. When 
Whistler had almost finished his picture, a very small one, 
by the way, the angry shop-keeper had pulled down the 
curtain, quite spoiling Whistler's view, and he, unable to 
speak Dutch, had insisted in English that the curtain 
should be raised. Alternately then the curtain went up 
and down, and finally the altercation became so serious 
that the neighbors took part in it. This drew the boat- 
men from the canal, and soon there was an excited mob, 
which had attracted our attention. Van s'Gravesande 
placed himself at Whistler's side and, facing the angry 
multitude, explained to them (in Dutch) that this was a 
great painter who was a stranger among them and knew 
nothing of their manners or customs, that for this reason 
he should be treated with great courtesy, and that he was 
surprised that his people should so forget themselves as to 
offer violence to a gentleman and a stranger. The peo- 
ple seemed ashamed of themselves at this and slunk 
away, but it certainly would have gone hard with Whis- 

197 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

tkr had he not arrived so opportunely. Whistler, how- 
ever, did not thank him in words, and contented him- 
self with ejaculating at intervals, "Amazing! Amaz- 
ing!" 

We three passed many delightful days together ram- 
bling and sketching about old Dort, and these experi- 
ences I shall take pleasure in recording later on in an- 
other form, but I must say here that I look back upon 
these days as among the happiest I spent in the Nether- 
lands. 

The population of a Dutch fishing-town is as quaint 
as the vessels and the charming, old gabled houses. The 
fishermen have a character all their own; superb, thick- 
set, well-fed fellows they are. Their food at sea is not 
very generous, as I found when I accompanied them, but 
there is always in the forecastle or the galley a steaming 
pot of coarse fish and potatoes, ready at hand so that each 
may help himself at will. They are hard drinkers too, 
for when I asked for water, I was handed as a joke a cup 
full of pure gin by the grinning "boy," to the great amuse- 
ment of the skipper. The fishermen are the flower of the 
race for strength and hardihood, and they present an ad- 
mirable type. While they are peaceable as a rule, when 
it comes to the fight they can hold their own. Yes, some 
of them are bullies, but it must be urged that their sur- 
roundings are not such as to breed saints. When they do 
take to religion, however, they are very devout. I can 

198 



THE THEATER 

describe one experience with a fleet in the North Sea. 
We were after the herring, and our little craft was a 
mere toy compared with the mighty fishing smacks that 
sail from the English coast towns. It was evening when 
we stole away from the mouth of the Y, and our blunt- 
bowed "tjalk" with its brass-bound boom rippled away 
the surface of the orange-colored sea, aflame with the set- 
ting sun. We lay about quietly until dawn, eagerly 
watching until we saw the predatory flock of gulls rising 
and diving over the shoal. There is no child's play in 
the herring fishery. The boat runs out with her nets 
coiled amidship and heads away to meet the innumerable 
schools of migrant fish. The buoy is flung over, and 
then the net is "shot" swiftly by the fishermen, until the 
line of corks winds astern for many a yard like a bobbing 
serpent on the quiet sea. The leaden weights sink and 
the snare adjusts itself; now comes a pause; the men sit 
down quietly and light their pipes; all eyes are fixed on 
the water; and then we wait. Of a sudden in the dis- 
tance we see a strange disturbance on the surface of the 
sea, and a lambent, greenish light appears in the water. 
Then the gulls begin to call from high overhead. A 
whispering, popping sound fills the air as if of a 
thunder shower, but it is the noise made by millions 
of leaping fish. With mysterious, gliding, sidelong 
movements they swim; against wind or tide their 
progress continues. Now they are heading towards us. 

199 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

A buoy rears for an instant and then plunges under, 
then under goes another; a third, fourth, and fifth 
follow quickly; and the lines of corks are sagging 
and plunging as the weight of the fish drags them down. 
We are watching almost breathlessly, and finally the 
patroon gives the word and the first buoy is pulled in. 
Over the side the whole sea seems to be a vast glow of 
emerald flame, flashing in the depths and outlining the 
barrier of the nets. This flame seems to wind among 
pale sheets of snowy foam. Long streaks of this green 
flame fringed with jewels dart away from the meshes of 
the nets. The whispering sound that I described before 
fills the ears, and the fish are leaping high in the air. 
Now the heavy nets are pulled over the side, the men 
straining heavily while their muscles dart out like coils of 
steel, and little by little, the fish well is filled with a 
beautiful, silvery mass, and a curious shrill, squeaking 
sound, as from millions of mice, comes from the herring as 
their strained air-bladders burst. Our boat sinks low 
with its load and rises and falls in a very logy fashion at 
the lunge of the sea. The captain says we cannot stand 
another hundredweight, but it seems too bad to let the 
school go by and escape. So we watch greedily the beau- 
tiful fish leaping and glittering in the morning sun. The 
sight of a school of herring in the sunlight is one of the 
most picturesque to be seen. They bound up into the air, 
out of the water, all about us, but the slightest move- 

200 



In a North Holland Tower 



for an CxO. loen piunges undrr, 

ofs RTV h"rd. foTi^h, ?sid fifth 

ne iish drags them down. 
' ' . md finally the 

:0V is DLi^kd in. 



n'«o'\ V4«a\i(JM v\'««Vli v'i ft\ 




m "^v;\.,: 



THE THEATER 

ment from the boat will cause them to "sound;" then they 
will rise again and one may follow them for miles by 
the ravenous flock of gulls which hover over them. We 
fall in with other boats as we sail for the shore and the 
skippers compare notes in gutturals. A most pictur- 
esque sight we present as we glide in squadron toward 
the jetty. Most picturesque, too, are the men in their 
heavy boots and strange, high-waisted jackets; brawny 
giants all of them I How this breed of men came to be 
developed it is difficult to say, but physically they are 
certainly the finest specimens of their race. The pa- 
troon's beard is sunny, his shoulders are as broad as an 
athlete's; he is like a mythical figure, such as Ericsson. 
He makes the plank creak as he walks, and one can see 
that he is all bone and brawn. You cannot forget his 
glittering steel-blue eye, nor the flash of his white teeth. 
There are scores like him among the fishermen, and it is 
such men as he that make the fishing ports worth visiting. 
One afternoon in wandering in the outskirts of Zwolle 
in the north of Holland, I was attracted to a little hut 
in the wood. 'Twas here I discovered a man and his 
wife making wooden shoes. I watched him unobserved 
for a time. He had sawed the wood into oblong square 
shapes and they were piled up in a rude sort of workshop, 
against the wall. He stood at a rough bench and with 
drawknife he fashioned the pieces of wood into shapes of 
wooden shoes. I could not but admire the skill with 

201 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

which he did the work. His wife, near by, was finish- 
ing the shoes with a small sharp knife, and a row of the 
finished product was neatly arranged on a bench before 
her. He frowned when at last he saw me. I gave him a 
big, fat cigar, and this quite disarmed him, and when I 
produced another for myself and sat down and lighted a 
match, which I offered him, he became quite friendly. 
The Dutch peasant's way of being friendly is to ask ques- 
tions. Was I German or English? Ah — American I 
North or South'? His brother was in Curagao, at Wil- 
lemstad. He was engaged in the dried-fish business. 
Had I ever been in Curasao? Ah — New York? He 
examined me through a cloud of smoke. Were my shoes 
made in New York ? So — how much did they cost ? Ah 
— so? What was my business? So? Did I make 
money at it? Was I married? How old was I? How 
long was I going to stay in Holland? Upon all these 
points I satisfied him. 

Then my turn came and I fired the questions back at 
him, but he regarded this evidently as fair play and 
gravely responded. He was forty years of age ; he had 
been married six years; he rented the house that he lived 
in, if it could be called such; yes, that was his wife sitting 
over there ; yes, those were his three children ; yes, it was 
difficult to make a living; no, he could not make a gulden 
a day even with the assistance of his wife; no, they did 
not often have meat to eat; they lived on dried fish, pota- 

202 



THE THEATER 

toes and beets; yes, they grew the vegetables themselves; 
no, that cow was not theirs, that belonged to the farmer, 
l)ut they minded it while it grazed, and for this they re- 
ceived one quart of milk per day; yes, thank God I the 
children were healthy; no, he was not contented, but he 
was not unhappy; he feared that he might get into trouble 
because he was a drinking man ; no, he did not often get 
drunk, the wife didn't like it. "Isn't that so, vrouw'?" 
he said. A slow smile broke over her not uncomely face, 
and she put down the shoe that she was finishing and, 
folding the blue apron about her hands, she said, "Ja, 
mynheer." I don't think I ever had more satisfaction 
than I felt as the round pink fist of the baby on the 
earthen floor closed over the gulden that I put into it. 
The wife's ambition, I found, was to have a coral neck- 
lace! Verily, women are the same the world over. 
They were living in bitter poverty, with often hardly 
enough to eat, even of fish and potatoes ; there was not 
even a floor under their feet, and their furniture con- 
sisted of a bed built into the wall like a bunk, a heavy, 
bare table with some crockery on it, two wooden benches 
on either side, and a kerosene lamp hanging from the ceil- 
ing, and yet her longings were fixed upon a red coral neck- 
lace which would cost twenty dollars, our money. I 
often think of these poor people in the little hut in that 
far-away wood and the longing in the eyes of that woman, 
and I hope sincerely that somehow she got her necklace. 

203 



W^ Ibn^ 



^^fUE Hague — Dutch, " 's Graven Hage, or den 
flu Haag" — L e., the "Count's enclosure or hedge," 
^■•^ has been for centuries the favorite residence of the 
Dutch royal family. Formerly the political capital of 
the States General, it has been styled the largest village 
in Europe, and it was Louis Bonaparte who conferred 
upon it the privileges of a town. The Mauritshuis, the 
celebrated picture gallery; the Huis ten Bosch, or palace 
in the wood, "one of the most beautifully furnished cha- 
teaus in the world," an authority claims; the "Vijver," 
or lake, around which are clustered the various palaces; 
the "Gevangenpoort," an ancient tower and historic 
prison; the municipal museum, and next to the "Rijks" 
the finest in Holland; the "Mesdag" museum, and Baron 
Steen Gracht's picture gallery are the principal objects of 
interest. The Hague is the favorite residence of the be- 
loved Queen of Holland and the court. It seems im- 
maculately clean, is dignified by various palatial resi- 
dences and stately avenues of trees, and it is all very 
charming for a few days, but after one has seen the pic- 
tures one would better pass on quickly, for here the 
guilders certainly have wings. 

204 



THE HAGUE 

The Queen gave her consent to the representatives of 
the Powers interested in the First International Peace 
Conference to hold their deliberations in the Orange 
Room of the "House in the Wood." It was here that 
Motley wrote much of the "Rise and Fall of the Dutch 
Republic." (This room is preserved with its furniture 
exactly, so the custode claims, as it was when Motley 
occupied it.) Most people must have read that delight- 
ful Roundabout Paper of Thackeray's, entitled "Notes 
of a Week's Holiday." Holland seems to have de- 
lighted the great novelist, for he alludes to "the vast 
green flats, speckled by spotted cows and bounded by a 
gay frontier of windmills," and where the only bitterness 
in his cup was the "florin" which was charged at his hotel 
for a bottle of pale ale I He calls The Hague "the pret- 
tiest little brick city, with the pleasantest park to ride in, 
the neatest, most comfortable people walking about, the 
canals not unsweet, and busy and picturesque with old- 
world life." Wherever he went he was bubbling over 
with enjoyment. There certainly seem to be more gaiety 
and life here than in any other town in the Netherlands. 
One misses the business activity of Amsterdam, but there 
is certainly none of the sleepiness of the other towns. 
One sees in the streets well-equipped carriages, magnifi- 
cent high powered automobiles nearly as large as Pull- 
man coaches, bearing conspicuous coats-of-arms, and 
seemingly having space in the limousine for eight or ten 

205 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

people. These machines are most luxuriously uphol- 
stered, as one may imagine.; and carry two or three men- 
servants, including the chauffeur. There are crowds of 
well-dressed people strolling about and the shops vie 
with those of Paris. 

Though The Hague lacks the distinctive character of 
the other Dutch cities, yet it is the most cosmopolitan 
of them all, and many most distinguished people have 
lived here. It has been the political capital of Hol- 
land since the sixteenth century. The great interest, of 
course, centers in the "Palace in the Wood" [Huis ten 
Bosch], which, though small, is most picturesque. It 
was erected in 1645 for Princess Amalia of Solms, consort 
of Prince Frederick Henry, son of Henry the Silent. 
After his death, the Princess prepared the Orange Room 
as a memorial to him, and the walls are covered with 
paintings in his honor, all recording his victories on the 
battlefield. Nine of the most eminent painters of the 
day labored here for four years upon these paintings. 
The Queen's dining-room has a beautiful ceiling in relief, 
and there are four remarkable Brisaille paintings by De 
Witt. The Chinese Room contains eighteenth-century 
wall decorations upon rice paper, and the furniture is a 
gift from the Chinese Emperor. There is also a Japanese 
Room, presented to the nation by the Emperor of Japan 
in 1795. The curious chandelier hanging from the ceil- 
ing is entirely made up of cups and saucers. I did not 

206 



THE HAGUE 

see the boudoir, which, to my great regret, was closed. 
The private sitting-room seems a little too crowded for 
comfort; it is literally filled with treasures. 

In the "Mauritshuis" is a fine collection of paintings 
formed originally by the Princes of Orange-Nassau and 
the "Stadhouder," William V. There may be studied, 
among other notable works, the paintings of Rembrandt, 
such as the "Lesson in Anatomy," "The Officer's Por- 
trait" and "Simon in the Temple." There are many 
examples of Jan Vermeer of Delft, Franz Hals, Gerard 
Dou, Franz Van Meiris the Younger, Paul Potter, Jan 
Steen, and fine pictures by Rubens, Van Dyck and Hol- 
bein. 

The Communal Museum (Gemeente Museum) is com- 
paratively unknown to travelers, but is of great impor- 
tance, containing as it does many admirable paintings of 
the Dutch School, such as for instance "The Arque- 
busiers" of Jan Van Ravesteyn, and the greatest of the 
works of Van Goyen (purchased by the Municipal Coun- 
cil for the sum of 600 florins ! ) . There is also here the 
little known "Porte Drapeau" of Gerritz Van der Maes. 

The modern painter Mesdag during his lifetime gave 
to the museum a very rich and singularly complete col- 
lection of modern paintings which further enriches the 
treasures of the town. The Bibliotheque Royale is in a 
building erected in the early eighteenth century, which 
has a remarkable staircase in the Dutch style. The 

207 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

library contains not less than half a million volumes (so 
the attendant informed me with rounded eyes and ele- 
vated eyebrows) . 

On the first floor I found a rare collection of miniatures 
of the eighteenth century — very good ones, and the cus- 
todian told me that cases in another room contained 
"forty thousand medals and coins, all relating to Hol- 
land," but I did not examine them, to his great disap- 
pointment and contempt. The "Gevangenpoort" is an- 
other interesting museum, wherein in olden times politi- 
cal prisoners were incarcerated, and where the brothers 
De Witt were murdered, the most atrocious crime in the 
history of the country. A remarkable collection of in- 
struments of torture is shown in one of* the rooms. The 
"Binnenhof," dating from the year 1250, was originally 
a 'Talace of the Counts," and formed the foundation of 
The Hague. Since its erection it has been without inter- 
ruption, it is said, the residence of the Princes of Hol- 
land. 

It is in the "Salle Historique" of the chevaliers that 
Her Majesty Wilhelmina presides over the solemn open- 
ing of the "States General," and there she reads the 
messages from the throne. 

My Dutch friend describes the Palace Royal "as no 
great thing" but points out that it was built in 1535, but 
"much changed since" and is now occupied by Her Maj- 
esty Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry, her Consort. 

208 



THE HAGUE 

As an example of architecture the church of St. Jacques 
on the Spui is infinitely more interesting because of its 
roof, which is independent of a column, and for the tombs 
of the brothers De Witt and the philosopher Spinoza. 
The great Gothic church, with its "sexagonal" high 
tower, possesses a carillon of thirty-eight bells of remark- 
ably sweet tone, which is now, since the destruction of 
the chimes of Malines and other Flemish cities, probably 
the finest in the low countries. There is also some fine 
old painted glass here, and a most curious pulpit of carved 
wood, dated 1550. Quite notable also are the painted 
shields of the chevaliers of the "Toison d'Or," suspended 
in the choir. 

The great Palace of Peace for the International Court 
of Arbitration is on the so called "Benoordenhoutsche 
Polder." The Dutch people seem inordinately proud of 
this building, which architecturally is a curiosity, built of 
brick and set off by white marble trimmings in the Dutch 
style. 

The loyalty and devotion of the Dutch people to their 
Queen is proverbial, and it is a charming sight to see the 
stolid faces light up as the Queen drives by. 

The temptation in writing of a strange country seen 
superficially only, as a foreign country must necessarily 
be seen, is to generalize and to strain facts to suit the 
writer's classifications; and it will be admitted, I think, 
that Holland has suffered more than perhaps any other 

209 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

country from exaggeration. So many absurd things have 
been written and printed about the Queen and the Court 
that I should like, were space accorded me, to correct some 
of the absurdities. As a rule, when reading accounts 
concerning the Queen in the newspapers, one may take 
the statements with a grain of salt. In truth, the Queen 
is a woman of great strength of character and purpose, 
and her shrewdness in dealing with affairs of great mo- 
ment concerning the welfare of the Netherlands is well 
known to her ministers. She has great personal charm 
of manner, is of the kindliest possible disposition, and 
her charities are known to be boundless. Of course her 
privy purse is very large, but the demands upon it, like- 
wise, it is said, are enormous. There were great mis- 
givings among the people upon the announcement of her 
betrothal to Prince Henry, for it must be recorded that 
the Hollander does not like the German, for obvious 
reasons, and the German in turn affects to have merely a 
tolerant feeling for him. The Hollander somehow felt 
that in this alliance by marriage with Germany lurked 
certain mysterious dangers, so he regarded the Consort 
somewhat suspiciously, although outwardly he is always 
most respectful in his attitude toward him. The Queen 
is regarded as the embodiment of the House of Orange, 
and this feeling is quite apart from their affection for her 
and their delight in her grace and beauty. They claim 
that Holland is not now, and never will be, less of a 

210 



THE HAGUE 

Republic than she ever was, but they see in the distance 
the shadow of coming events which point perhaps to their 
annihilation as a kingdom. But we need not dwell upon 
this fact, for her throne is occupied by an altogether satis- 
factory ruler, who is held in affectionate esteem and 
whose heart is their heart, the Queen of the House of 
Orange. 

I am indebted to a most delightful old Dutch lady at 
The Hague for the following account of the youth and 
education of the Queen: "At The Hague, Wilhel- 
mina's life, under the careful direction of the Queen 
Regent, did not differ in any great degree from the life 
of any other well-born Dutch girl. Her principal in- 
structor was her mother, and her tuition in the ordinary 
studies and the languages was divided among a number 
of carefully selected instructors, who were strictly 
charged to treat her exactly as they would any other well- 
born school girl. She was not even to be addressed as 
'Your Royal Highness,' or even as Princess, during 
school hours. So it was that she was educated under the 
watchful eyes of the Queen Regent. But while her edu- 
cation was strict, her childhood was made happy, and she 
was never permitted to lose sight of the fact that she was 
destined to rule as Queen of the Netherlands. Reared 
in the atmosphere of good Dutch democracy, she was even 
allowed the privilege of playing with other children. 

"One winter day as the Queen Regent with her little 

211 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

daughter was driving in her sleigh, they came upon a 
group of children merrily snowballing one another. The 
Princess asked her mother if she might not join them, and 
permission being given, the royal sleigh stood for half an 
hour while the future Queen of the Netherlands was bois- 
terously snowballed and enjoyed the pleasure of snow- 
balling her happy subjects." 

The Queen, when a young girl, delighted on occasions 
in wearing the quaint headdress of the Province of Fries- 
land, and the costume was certainly most becoming to 
her, judging by the photographs. 

Mile. Liotard was, I am informed, Wilhelmina's first 
governess, and until the age of four she spoke invariably 
in French. After this, she was instructed in other lan- 
guages, but never in the German tongue, her father, it is 
said, having an abhorrence of all things German. Her 
Majesty's next teacher was Miss "Winter, an English 
lady, who superintended her education henceforth. It 
was she who, to punish the young Princess, ordered her 
to draw a map of Europe. Wilhelmina obeyed, and 
when the map was completed it was found that Holland 
extended into the German Ocean, outclassing Prussia in 
size, while Great Britain was shown by a small black 
speck, in the midst a yellow splotch marked "London 
fog." Nevertheless, Her Majesty has a great admira- 
tion for England, and, I am told, thinks the United 
States of America of great interest, especially since the 

212 



//. M. JVilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands 



THE HAGUE 

Spanish war. She is a great student of nations, and has 
strong ideas and convictions regarding matters of inter- 
national import, and her mind once made up cannot 
easily be influenced. Her Majesty is now a fair-haired, 
beautiful woman of robust health and a great preponder- 
ance of animal spirits. 

The saying, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the 
world," was never better exemplified than on the occa- 
sion of the birth of an heir to the throne of the Nether- 
lands. The people of the Low Countries waited with 
breathless anxiety for the auspicious event. It is not 
only a testimony of the loyalty and affection with which 
the Dutch people regards its queen, but is a proof of the 
jealousy with which it guards its independence. Queen 
Wilhelmina was the last of the line of Orange-Nassau. 
If she failed to have an heir the succession became one of 
the most open in Europe. Open, that is to say, with re- 
gard to the number of possible candidates; as to the 
nationality, the choice was limited, as only the claims of 
German princes could then be taken into consideration. 
None, however, was of such a nature as to settle the rival 
claims beyond all dispute. In any other constitutional 
country this might have been a matter of secondary im- 
portance, but in the case of Holland matters are different. 
Her privileged geographical position, with a splendid 
coast line and many natural harbors, has exposed her to 
international jealousies. Of all the great powers of 

213 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

Europe — Russia excepted — Germany was the one with 
the most unfavorable coast line. Barring Hamburg, and 
perhaps Dantzig and Stettin, she has no natural harbors. 
Kiel and Wilhelmshaven are purely artificial ports, 
where the art of the modern Vauban has come to the aid 
of nature. They do not count for commercial purposes. 
For half a century Germany has, therefore, cast envious 
eyes on Holland. The presence of a German prince on 
the throne would be the first step toward preponderance, 
if not toward annexation. The possession of the Nether- 
lands, however, would undoubtedly disturb the balance 
of maritime power. Although three centuries have 
elapsed, Great Britain has not forgotten that the guns of 
Van Ruyter's fleet once woke the echoes of the Thames 
and that Tromp sailed the Channel with a broom at his 
masthead as a sign that he had swept the English from the 
sea. The birth of a Dutch heir to the throne put an 
end to international jealousies. This fact undoubtedly 
doubled the warmth and cordiality with which Europe 
congratulated Queen Wilhelmina. 

While unostentatious. Queen Wilhelmina is insistent 
upon Court form to the last degree in her intercourse with 
the representatives of foreign governments. Upon the 
convocation of the Dutch Parliament the Queen rides to 
the ceremony in a great gilded coach ornamented with 
golden lions, and drawn by fat white horses in magnifi- 
cent trappings, preceded by a company of Lancers of the 

214 



THE HAGUE 

Royal Guard. She reads her speech from the throne in 
a clear penetrating voice, and her language is said to be 
both clear in meaning and marked by great earnestness of 
delivery. On Sundays the Queen, the Consort Prince 
Henry, and the Princess Juliana, provided the weather 
is fine, may be seen walking to church like any other well- 
to-do Dutch family. The Prince Consort is a rather 
tall, soldierly looking man, inclined somewhat to stout- 
ness, and wearing a spade shaped beard in the Dutch 
mode. He invariably dresses in uniform, and walks 
in a stiff military fashion, looking neither to right nor 
left, but returning salutes most punctiliously. 

The Queen smiles and bows most graciously to the 
people, and converses animatedly with the two ladies in 
waiting who accompany her and Princess Juliana. Since 
her marriage, the Queen inclines somewhat to stoutness 
and has almost lost the girlish graceful lines which so 
charmed every one at the time of her coronation. Prin- 
cess Juliana is a lovely little creature, inheriting from her 
mother the amiable qualities which so endeared her to the 
Dutch people, and the affection between mother and 
daughter is said to be delightful to behold. It is the 
subject of conversation at afternoon teas, and gatherings 
in those charming Dutch drawing-rooms on the "Singel" 
over the trays of priceless India porcelains and shining 
hand-wrought silver, presided over by noble ladies, in 
lace and velvet whose placid waxen faces recall the 

215 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

paintings of Franz Hals. And likewise in the no less 
delightful "Kamers" of the Stadthouders, and the far dis- 
tant farmsteads of the "Beemster," Juliana is the joy and 
the pride of the Netherlands. 

The visitor to the Netherlands must not be misled as 
to the character of the upper classes or judge them in any 
way by those whom he meets in the hotels or conveyances. 
The Dutch gentleman and lady are far removed from 
these. Do not believe either that they find their pleas- 
ures in the grosser comforts, for they are highly educated 
and their manners are those of the upper classes of the 
English. The young men are always sent to the uni- 
versity, where their education is carefully looked after, 
and the young girls are most highly accomplished, with a 
comprehensive knowledge of art and music and generally 
speaking French, Italian, and English. There is much 
driving, and afternoon calls are general. In the evening 
at the club the gentlemen congregate for an hour or so 
before dinner, at which the "Borreltje" or gin and bitters 
is in evidence. As a rule, dinner is served any time 
between six and half -past seven, and this is a very formal 
occasion, although the menu is quite simple. The people 
are well dressed, generally after the English fashion. In 
manner they are most kindly and they delight in pretty 
speeches. Breakfast, as a rule, at this house which I have 
in mind, and which will answer as a specimen, is gener- 
ally ready at eight o'clock, but oftentimes the table is 

216 



THE HAGUE 

kept in order and ready until ten for the young men who 
may have been out for an early morning ride on the dunes. 
This is an easy matter, for a mahogany bucket lined with 
metal and containing peat embers, in which a brass kettle 
is kept singing, is always placed beside every Dutch 
breakfast table; it appears, too, at five o'clock teas, as 
well as after dinner in the drawing-room. This kettle- 
bucket in Holland is very characteristic. At breakfast 
one eats lightly, as a rule, bread and butter with a thin 
slice of gingerbread, making a sandwich (Boterham in 
Dutch) . There are tea and coffee, and eggs are boiled, 
generally in an old-fashioned net on a ring, which is 
dipped into the kettle. Everybody is welcomed with 
bon jour, and people take their seats without further 
ceremony. The mail is brought to the table by the butler 
and distributed, and there will be English papers of the 
sporting order at hand. After breakfast the women 
gather in the garden to cull the roses, or do fancy-work 
in the arbors, embowered in the trees. The garden is a 
pretty place with rustic bridge over a water trench, green 
with duckweed and shaded by willows, and down in the 
hollow lies a pond full of water lilies, where perhaps a 
swan or two will be swimming. After luncheon there 
will be driving along the brick-paved road, shaded by 
trees, past smiling cottages and country-seats, while the 
bright, little villas, seldom far apart, are seen along the 
road behind beautiful green lawns. After the heat of 

217 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

the afternoon five o'clock tea is fashionable, and the 
young men drive off to the club for an hour before 
dinner. 

People generally ask what sort of food is served at 
dinner. Well, we will have as genuine Dutch dishes, 
potato puree or bouillon flavored with chervil, and con- 
taining balls of veal force meat, and there will be water 
bass from the canal, which are about the size of our trout 
and are served up in a deep dish in the water in which 
they are boiled, and parsley-flavored. This is served 
with very thin sandwiches of rye bread. Next comes, 
generally, roast or stewed veal, mutton being so poor 
that it is rarely eaten. The vegetables are potatoes with 
butter, boiled endives, and bread-crumbed cabbage. 
Then there will be partridge, or some other game, wild 
duck being plentiful in season, sometimes the young men 
coming in after dawn with a fine bag. The dessert is 
mostly French bon-bons or tarts, but sometimes English 
jam is served. Dessert over, both ladies and gentlemen 
return together to the drawing-room for coffee, which is 
served in the smallest and most precious of blue china, 
which is generally kept behind cabinet doors. Then 
come liqueurs, cognac and aniseed, this latter being the 
favorite. During the evening callers are entertained, 
after which tea is served, the mahogany peat bucket and 
its kettle having been placed by the footman as usual 
beside the table. 

218 



THE HAGUE 

I may mention that there are but three classes of nobil- 
ity in Holland, the "Jonkheer," the "Baron," and the 
highest, "Count." The Dutch are very simple as to their 
titles, which are rarely used in good society, as every one 
knows they are Barons or Counts, so it would be thought 
snobbish or bad form so to address them. Servants or 
strangers may sometimes use the title, but more often they 
will only say, Mynheer. Of course the peasantry use the 
titles in speaking among themselves, but only to this 
extent. 

After tea, the lady of the house always washes her own 
tea cups, never trusting them to the servants. This 
washing of the cups is one of the good old customs, and 
as these porcelain cups are worth from five to fifteen 
dollars apiece there is a reason for it. Another strange 
custom is the visit of the "Aanspreker." I saw this curi- 
ous figure passing swiftly along the path dressed in 
funeral black, wearing a three-cornered hat with a long 
streamer floating behind over his coat, which was flapping 
in the wind. On his feet were silver-buckled shoes, and 
it was explained to me that it is his duty to make the 
rounds of the neighborhood announcing deaths. An- 
other strange old custom is that wherever lie mother and 
a new-born babe there shall be fastened to the door a 
huge ornament, called a "Klopper." My Dutch friend 
brought forth one which had been used in the family. It 
was a large square of lace bearing in the center a finely 

219 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

embroidered coat-of-arms, and he told me that the lace 
was the finest old "Mechlin." It was lined with white, 
for it announced the birth of a girl, that for a boy being 
one-half pink. These "Kloppers" are eagerly sought 
for as souvenirs, so I am told. 

While the Dutch use their own language almost invari- 
ably, they will as often speak in French. All social invi- 
tations are written in the latter tongue, and sometimes 
the most familiar correspondence. As to English, it too 
is quite generally used, and I remember meeting few 
Hollanders who did not have at least a slight speaking 
acquaintance with it. 

On Sunday morning it is customary to attend church. 
The church, except those in the large towns, is small, 
whitewashed, and sadly bare. The ladies sit on chairs 
in the middle of the house, the men occupying places by 
themselves at one side. There will be a hymn or two 
with some good music on the organ, a very long prayer 
by the minister, who is gowned in black, and then a still 
longer sermon, followed by a collection in which two 
black bags with long tassels attached to the ends of long 
poles are passed around by the "beadles." On one of the 
bags is written "Eglise," that is for the church; the other 
is for the poor. The service is melancholy and depress- 
ing to a foreigner, but the people are sincere and very 
devout. 

After luncheon and the siesta, the carriage is ordered 

220 



THE HAGUE 

for the afternoon drive over the beautiful, level roads 
and through the rich, wooded spaces of the outskirts, 
passing the lovely villas and crowds of peasantry quietly 
walking by the roadside. There is much driving, and 
beautiful equipages. The peasantry are out in the gala 
costume, for this is their great day, and in strange dog- 
carts, drawn by huge, ill-looking animals, quite filled 
with stout peasants, who seem to be a tremendous load 
for the unfortunate animals. Then we pass a regiment 
of soldiers in slouchy infantry uniform — blue, with yel- 
low worsted facings and tassels — carrying strange-look- 
ing knapsacks and wearing singular pointed caps. They 
are not well set up, and seem to be small of stature, and 
their uniform certainly is not becoming. 

Being a stranger, I am to visit a farm-house, and we 
soon stop before a prosperous-looking house at the end of 
a brick-paved walk. There are many cooing pigeons 
about, and I soon discover that all the buildings of this 
farm are practically under the one roof. Here are the 
dwelling-house, the dairy, the cow-house, and various 
other departments. A clean, orderly row of wooden 
shoes stands outside the door, which opens on a clean, 
freshly painted passageway paved with red brick, where 
we are welcomed by the wife of the farmer and ushered 
into the sitting-room. I note that she is in her stocking 
feet. The parlor is gay with strips of bright carpet, and 
there is a shining mahogany table in the center. We are 

221 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

served with ill-tasting home-made pear wine sweetened 
to taste with powdered sugar, which politeness forces us 
to drink, and the household treasures are brought forth 
from a huge, carved "armoire" — the family Bible with its 
silver clasps, grandmother's holiday gowns, some antique 
headdresses, and a fine collection of beautiful old carved 
and beaten silver spoons, which are greatly admired. 
We are then taken to the dairy with its long clean wooden 
tables filled with green and orange stone crocks of milk, 
prints of butter in wooden bowls, and several loaves of 
large, fresh cheeses, made by the farmer's wife and 
daughters. Opening a door we are ushered into the cow- 
house, which is four steps below the level of the kitchen. 
This is an immense room with the roof far above our 
heads, with a footway of red tiles down the middle; on 
one hand are piled large clean cheese presses, above which 
are hanging long lines of copper pans, brightly scoured 
brass cheese scoops, candlesticks, and various wooden 
implements used in preparing cheese and butter. Down 
another passageway leading off we see the cow-stalls, 
and here all is as clean as the parlor itself. Here in 
winter some sixty cows are under cover, and each cow- 
stall is carefully laid with sand, which is marked out in 
ornamental patterns. There is a small stream of water 
running through the center of this passageway to carry 
away the offal. The cheese is made on a raised platform 
at the side of this cow-shed, and the farmer describes the 

222 



A Dutch Boer 



•\^o8. A^iAwQ. ;. 



THE HAGUE 

operation, which is technically too intricate for me to 
understand. I may say that there is not a particle of 
odor in this building, everything being of immaculate 
cleanliness. 

As we drove home the band was playing in the open 
space and the peasants were enjoying themselves hugely 
at various small tables under the trees, drinking a queer 
black liquid, which it was explained to me is made of gin 
and black currants. On the way home we drew to one 
side to let a wedding party pass. There were several 
kinds of carriages, one in particular being called a "Jan- 
plaisir." This seemed big enough to hold an army, with 
open sides and blinds which roll up and down, and drawn 
by six horses. There was much shouting and cheering 
as the gay procession passed by, the cart at the head being 
the old-fashioned kind, not unlike a circus wagon, set 
high in the air on its large wheels, the body carved and 
gilded and painted with pictures in bright colors. Then 
we stopped at a drawbridge which was pulled up to 
allow some river craft to pass, and finally we came to 
our journey's end. 

On the whole, then, living in the Netherlands is most 
comfortable and there is much good cheer, and it would 
seem true, as the Dutch affirm, that social life in the 
Netherlands is purer and happier than that of any other 
people. This may be a sweeping assertion on their part, 
but they certainly do seem happy and contented I 

223 



I^I^N the foregoing chapters I have only lightly touched 
II upon this most interesting, perhaps, of any of the 
^^ provinces. Leaving Edam by a puffing, wheezy 
train one can journey leisurely to Kwadijk, stopping for 
luncheon as I did, and then on to Enkhuizen, once per- 
haps the most prosperous town in the Netherlands, but 
now indeed a "dead city." Paul Potter, the painter, was 
born here in 1625. Approaching by train one sees little 
of interest — some housetops showing above the green 
dyke — ^but from the sea the visitor sees it at its best and 
most striking aspect, with the great Drommedaris Tower, 
a most splendid relic of the now vanished fortifications of 
the Middle Ages, standing guard over the tiny harbor 
and scattered collection of red-roofed houses. One sees 
it against the sky, topped by a white-painted lantern or 
cupola containing a gilded clock-face, its dark-red brick 
walls pierced by quaint pointed shuttered windows in 
white frames and backed by a dense fringe of trees, over 
which appears the church spire at the right. There is a 
lock in the canal beside it, crossed by a quaint old lift- 
bridge or "wip," on which as I came up were ranged as 
many children as it would accommodate, all fringed on 

224 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

the railing and staring down into the canal. I never 
discovered what it was they were watching. A high- 
waisted, silk-hatted man in a brilliant red waistcoat, 
armed with a stick, descended upon them, and with blows 
and much vituperation drove them away down the street. 
I found clean accommodations in the little hotel called 
''De Port Van Cleve," and there fell in with a young 
schoolmaster, who invited me to join him in a glass of 
port, which was very good, too, by the way, and informed 
me almost at the same breath that he was studying to be a 
burgomaster, and would like to converse with me in 
English, which he proceeded to do with the help of a 
dictionary, which of course rendered our conversation 
necessarily slow and rudimentary, but he was a nice fel- 
low indeed, and when, in his thin, high-pitched voice, he 
invited himself to accompany me through Friesland, and 
offered to pay his own way, I welcomed him cordially. 
He proved to be a "character," and as I had brought some 
cigars with me from Amsterdam, the evening passed 
pleasantly enough — that is to say, with the aid of the 
dictionary. 

The steamer left the following morning — Sunday — 
for Stavoren. A good little boat it was but dirty, low 
in the water, painted black, and burning a villainous kind 
of soft coal in briquettes which blew over and smutted 
everybody and everything on board, and it was quite in 
vain that we moved about with the shifting wind. It 

225 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

takes about one hour and a half to cross the Zuyderzee 
here, where it closes in and forms a sort of neck, which it 
is proposed to "dam" one of these days, as I have said 
elsewhere, and reclaim the whole of the vast area lying to 
the south. Even now the water is so shallow here that 
this little, almost flat-bottomed steamer is forced to make 
long detours to avoid the sandbars. The water was very 
calm, and as it was Sunday few sails were visible on the 
expanse. On the way my new friend, the embryo 
Burgomaster gave me much otherwise ungetatable infor- 
mation concerning the Frieslanders, and much more as 
we entered the small harbor of Stavoren, and I never 
knew a man to consume cigars as he could. He literally 
ate them as he talked, but I had plenty, happily, costing 
but one cent each, and not bad at that price, as might be 
surmised. I learned among other quaint customs that it 
was usual here in the north at the birth of a boy for all the 
women to visit the mother and drink a bowl of "Brande- 
wyn" to her health and honor; the size of the bowl was 
not specified; that each woman presents a sort of tart or 
pie, which is displayed in the room — the more pies the 
greater the honor — and when, later on, the new-born is 
taken to church many small girls of twelve or fifteen years 
volunteer their services in carrying him by turn. The 
father then presents the child for baptism, never the 
mother, and much more, which I am sorry to say I have 
forgotten. Stavoren is interesting from the water. The 

226 



Enkhiiizen — The Drommedaris Tower 



•n'jjoT ?.rvftV^>«vmo<Cl ss\'V — w^ssuMk?^ 




q..^Xi.. ?....... 



&\ 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

roofs of the houses are red-tiled, and the houses them- 
selves are never of more than two stories; they are 
all quaintly step-gabled and tree-embowered. Queer- 
shaped boats are drawn up before them in the canal, and 
on their bows are painted in white letters S T (Stavoren) . 
The bodies of these boats are not painted, but tarred or 
pitched, and the result is certainly beautiful. My friend 
hailed a nice, prosperous-looking Hollander on the quay 
as we landed and introduced me with many gesticula- 
tions as a personage from Amerkanewyork, all in one 
word, and I must record the delightful cordiality 
with which I was greeted, which, indeed, generally 
was the case throughout the Netherlands. Mr. Bes- 
sema immediately asked us both to his house for sup- 
per, and followed by two boys who shouldered our 
baggage, we were presently shown through a large tiled 
kitchen lined with brass and copper and furnished with 
fine old furniture; down dark, mysteriously dim pas- 
sages, painted or whitewashed blue, to the parlor, where 
we were at once presented to Mevrouwe Bessema, a 
delightful-looking, waxen-complexioned lady wearing 
the Friesian headdress, a cap of solid gold divided at the 
front, with projecting flaps of gold bejeweled above the 
ears. My lady Bessema was rather chilling to me at 
first, but I noted that my friend was lavish with his "Asher 
blifft," so I followed suit, and found this a most excel- 
lent expression to fill out a sentence. Soon supper was 

227 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

announced by a bare-armed, lovely young Friesienne 
in a shining gold casque, and we sat down to a rather 
formal and bare table. Tea was passed around from a 
sort of samovar and sheep's milk poured with it. I was 
a little afraid of it, but it tasted sweet and good. There 
was much conversation between the host and my friend 
concerning the price of mutton and beets, during which I 
covertly observed the tiled walls, the mahogany ward- 
robe, and the exquisite gilt Friesland clock over the man- 
telpiece. After supper our host would not hear of our 
leaving his house, so we thankfully remained until the 
following morning. The ladies retiring, we sat up 
rather late smoking and talking of the changes in Hol- 
land and the march of improvements, and before we went 
to bed Heer Bessema brought forth three bottles of Bass's 
ale, in which we drank his health. Mevrouwe Bessema 
and Mejuffrow, her daughter, we did not see again that 
night; and I slept in a great high bedstead under a thick 
feather thing like a mattress, in a pretty and clean room 
under the eaves, until — bang! on the door, and a silvery 
voice outside calling out, "Het waater, mynheer!" I 
caught only a brief glimpse of this young damsel before 
I left, peeping shyly at me from behind a door. I sup- 
pose it is not etiquette for a girl to speak to a stranger in 
the Netherlands, but at any rate I did not see her to say 
farewell and I quite forgot to ask my friend as to this fact. 
Evidently our presence had become known through 
228 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

the village, for an army of children escorted us to the boat 
at the quay which was to take us onward. The curiosity 
of the Dutch child is unequaled, most embarrassing, and 
eventually becomes an intolerable nuisance. They will 
stand for hours staring at one unwinkingly, and nothing 
seems to disconcert them. I have had them four deep 
about me while I was painting, and it took every effort to 
make them understand that I desired to see what I was 
painting before me, and that I could not see through 
them. One remedy I found generally efficacious : to pick 
out the largest and most ill-favored of the lot of boys, and 
giving him the sight of a gulden, promise to present it to 
him if he cleared the way. It was amusing, though, to 
see the throng which escorted us to the boat on this morn- 
ing, and we left with a cheery adieu from Heer Bessema 
and the populace upon the bank. 

The first village was Heeg, not very quaint or un- 
usual, and so we concluded not to stop. The houses 
are neat (netje) and surrounded by a kind of trellis of 
vines, which gives a pretty effect. Connecting each 
house with the roadway is a small brightly painted, 
high-railed wooden bridge over a narrow and somewhat 
"smelly" canal. Here I first noted the "floating shop" 
or barge in the canal. The boat was not a large one, but 
it was brightly painted and on the high rudder-post was a 
large gilt lion of carved wood. The cabin windows were 
brightly decked out with colored paper cut in forms, and 

229 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

modern crockery decorated in bright colors ; huge fringes 
of new brooms were stacked on deck, and, alas I there was 
much tinware instead of the beautiful brass and copper 
of old. All the merchandise was of the cheapest sort, and 
I found that these wary merchants will always endeavor 
to trade the tins and ornaments for anything that the 
peasants may have in their homes. These dealers, gen- 
erally Hebrews, have well nigh cleared the vicinity of 
the antiques once to be found. Everywhere on the canal 
and its banks is color — red, yellow, white, and green — 
and the women and girls seem to be washing, washing 
eternally, and, indeed, nearly all the domestic secrets are 
frankly carried on in full view of the passer-by. The 
brightly painted and varnished boats are hung from stem 
to stern with long festoons of garments flapping in the 
wind, while the captain or patroon or his sons pole the 
boat along, bent over at an angle, the pole at the shoul- 
der, pushing at the bottom of the shallow canal. Some- 
times the boat-vrouwe will handle the tiller, while an 
excited and nervous dog runs from end to end of the boat. 
Either bank is lined with a row of thin lime trees shading 
a clean brick-paved pathway and an almost continuous 
row of klinker-built, red-tiled roofed houses with white 
casements. All is tiny, toy-box like and unreal to the 
last degree, and all shining in the translucent light of the 
moist sky and reflected in the water, flowers, trees, houses, 
boats, each with its own note of color value, and all inde- 

230 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

scribably attractive to the artist. We pass through a 
curious bridge called, my friend explains, a wip. This 
is arranged so that by means of a counterbalance on one 
end it may be tilted up to let the boats pass. It is painted 
a bright pea-green. 

I had always wanted to see Ijilst since I read Mf. 
Doughty's description in "Friesland Meres." He says, 
"Nothing odder, more bizarre than this village have I 
ever seen; more Chinese than European looking with its 
jumble of bright colors, fantastic forms, and squeezed-up 
populousness!" And now there it is just ahead of us 
under the trees, truly, as he says, "more bizarre." The 
usual fringe of children are awaiting us and hail us with 
delight as we "tie up," falling in behind in solid phalanx 
when we step ashore. I never saw the equal of this town 
for quaintness, and my friend tells me that elsewhere it 
does not exist. The main street is lined with immicu- 
lately clean houses, each with its garden, and it is these 
gardens which attract one. There are miniature lakes 
and boats on them ; there are chicken-pens and dog-houses, 
miniature replicas of the owner's house, all painted and 
complete with brass-handled doors, curtained windows, 
glazed panes, and imitation brick chimneys, with tiny 
gardens before each containing still smaller chicken- 
houses and "dog-pens, and so on down the scale, and all 
quite unbelievable. But it was at Sneek (pronounced 
Snake) that my friend decided to put up at night, so we 

231 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

pushed on and found it, as promised, most delightfully 
quaint in the evening light, with two well-paved ways of 
red brick set in pattern on either side of a rather odorous 
canal, but with lovely rows of trimmed lime trees shading 
the houses and shops and reflected in the canal. The 
hotel, a good one [Stad Munster], nestles behind a sort of 
screen of lime leaves most curiously fashioned by cutting 
and trimming the tree. I never saw anything like it 
before or since. There is a wonderful old "stadhuis" 
dated 1614, in the very purest Renaissance style — said to 
be the finest in Friesland, but this I thought to be an exag- 
geration. Here the Sneeker Mere is five miles long and 
is a fine stretch of water upon which the regattas take 
place. We were just too late to see the fun, but we saw 
the bunting, the crowds on the banks, the tjalks and 
boiers, steam launches and barges, and a lavishly deco- 
rated steamer towing the winning boat all covered with 
flags, with a lot of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen on 
board and a band playing the national air, white sails, 
yellow and brown sails, flags and black smoke, all in the 
last rays of the sunshine. We slept little that night for 
the noise and confusion in the streets and the hotel, where 
it seemed to me the whole population of 1 1 ,500 were 
gathered the whole night long, but it was all most inter- 
esting and well worth while. 

My Dutch friend seemed to be acquiring a wonderful 
stock of English phrases, some of which were sufficiently 

232 




Near Ijilst — .7 Typical North Ho/land JFindmill 



^AlwAuiTU UwftWoH '., 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

ludicrous; for instance, he insisted upon ending almost 
every sentence by adding "Iss it not? yes?" the words all 
run together rapidly, and this became so wearing on my 
nerves that I at length begged him to omit it. He did so, 
but I could see that he was discouraged, so I essayed to 
put him in good humor by teaching him the words of a 
current American comic song, in which, alas ! he became 
only too proficient. 

And then he woke me up in the night to listen to an 
idea that had suddenly occurred to him. "Listen," he 
said; "when you geef a thing, you cannot to keep him, 
iss it not'?" "Yes," said I. "But when a man geef hees 
vord, he keep him, iss it not?" "Yes," I answered sleep- 
ily. "But when hees geef hees vord, 'ow can hee keep 
him? Does he get him back?" "No," said I. "But if 
he keeps hees vord, he does not geef him?" "Oh, yes, 
he does," said I, now aroused. "Ah, I zink I zee. Ven 
he geef hees vord, and he don't take heem back — 'ee 
keep him all ze vile, iss it not? I zee I But Heer 
Gott — vat a language iss ze Engelsch I" . . . 

The leisurely wheezy locomotive of the tram dragged 
us along through a sodden country, for it had come on to 
rain during the night, and the carriage reeked with the 
wet clothing of three stolid peasants, who smoked most 
villainous tobacco, whispered to each other hoarsely, re- 
garding us the while suspiciously, and who to our relief 
alighted at the first stopping place, which was a sort of a 

233 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

crossroad halfway between Ijilst and Nijhuizum. It 
now rained furiously and in torrents, and the clouds were 
as black as they well could be, while the thunder roared 
seemingly all about us, so low hung the clouds. Sheets 
of water drenched the windows of the carriage, which 
rocked from side to side in the violence of the wind. 
Then all at once the sun broke forth over the Mere, and 
the long lines of waterways leading horizonward shone 
like ribbons of gold embossed in green velvet, and as we 
slowed up at the small brick station where we alighted 
for Workum, all was clean and washed brightly by the 
rain. Workum has the usual one long street lined with 
the customary small houses of klinker brick, two-storied 
and gabled generally toward the street. It is paved with 
rough, round stones, kept clean, and was formerly the bed 
of a canal with a narrow path on either hand, brick paved. 
It is shaded with well-kept trees, and quite picturesque 
and paintable, especially as all is dominated by the im- 
mense square tower of the church, which is visible for 
miles around. In the square is a beautifully propor- 
tioned small building called the "Oude Wache" (Old 
Weighhouse), on the front of which is an illuminated 
coat of arms in now faded colors, supported by two com- 
ical lions, and surmounting a panel with an inscription 
half obliterated, which I tried in vain to read ; the whole 
resting on a winged head, such as one sees on old tombs. 
We were escorted to the hotel by a band of urchins armed 

234 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

with long poles, who varied the attentions bestowed upon 
us by skillfully vaulting with them every ditch they came 
to, and we found that this is a custom here. 

At the hotel my Dutch friend promised me a taste of a 
most celebrated dainty, the merits of which he extolled 
with uplifted hands and eyes. It is called Soetkrahelin- 
gen, and is a sort of pastry, served and eaten with cheese ; 
with this was served a very good port wine at ten cents 
a glass (our money) . I thought it not bad, and ate it to 
the manifest pleasure of my companion. After dinner, 
which was served in the middle of the day, Dutch style, 
and a smoke in the general room, where two vehement 
young men played a very poor game of billiards, we or- 
dered a horse and conveyance for the four-mile or so drive 
to Hindeloopen (the name means stag-hunt), which is 
styled the most unique town in North Holland. Our 
journey was undertaken in a quaint Noah's Ark of a con- 
veyance which had seen its best days years ago, and the 
horses that drew it were evidently of the same period. 
Our route lay along the top of the long dyke, with the 
sight and smell of the sea ever present, and I saw flocks 
of tarn and other birds flying overhead. Occasionally 
we were held up by gates where we had to pay toll to the 
squalid-looking beings in charge. The ride across the 
flat green polder meadows was somewhat dispiriting, I 
thought, but I saw many opportunities for pictures and 
the driver was loquacious. He wore a beautiful belt of 

235 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

leather studded with silver nails and clasped by two 
bosses of beaten silver as large as saucers, upon which 
were raised the figures of Adam and Eve. I tried to buy 
these of him, but he named a price so extravagant that I 
gave it up. At Hindeloopen we were well repaid by the 
curious things we found. The old church bears the 
inscription : 

"Des heeren woord 
Met aandacht noort 
Komt dartoe met-hoopen 
Als Hinden loopen." 

Translated it means roughly that the parishioners should 
leap [loopen]^ or run like the deer {Hinden) to listen to 
the Holy Scriptures. Hindeloopen is a pleasant and 
clean little fishing village as yet undiscovered by the 
artists, as is Volendam, but I am convinced that it will 
not now be long ere one finds a colony there, for Mynheer 
of the hostelry is desirous of emulating the Spaanders at 
the latter town. He has a small collection of silver and 
china, and some carvings, too, for which the country 
around is famed. He and my friend struck up a mighty 
friendship, in consequence of which we fared quite well, 
and many houses were opened to us into which we would 
not have otherwise been admitted. In the old church are 
a pile of biers against the wall, each one for a particular 
trade, such as the chirurgeon, the farmer, the blacksmith 
and the sailor. On each is a painted panel and much 

236 




Hindeloopen — The Little Green Staircase 



beaten large as saucers, upon which 

e figures ot Adam and Eve. I tried to bu; 
so extravagant tha' I 
"■ "'ellrepai'' ■■"' ■ . 
hurch b 



^ensant and 
ait. juviaced thac it will 



aiR:>t'v»l?. K^'itx) ?>\\\u\ '4s\T — w^<\oo\^Vi«JV\. 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

ornament and figures most charmingly conceived and ex- 
ecuted, with emblems for each trade. Upon one of them 
is the following inscription : 

"Al wat er is. 
Mijn hoop is Chris tus en zyn bloed 
Door deze leer ik en hoop door die het eenwig goed. 
Ons leven is maar eenen dag, vol ziekten en vol naar geklag 
Vol rampen dampen en Vendriet. Een schim een droom en 
anders niet." 

(Some of this sounds like profanity, but it is really all 
very pious.) Propriety and custom demand that the 
sailor, etc., be carried to his last resting-place each on his 
own bier. The church has remains of the fine carvings 
and stalls spared during the Reformation, and as exam- 
ples of woodworking of the time they are of high interest 
to architects and antiquaries. I am sorry that I did not 
get a photograph of the peculiar "linenfold" cutting, of 
which I have never seen a more perfect example. But 
my Dutch friend was for pressing on to Bolsward, and 
although I would like to have rested here for a few days, 
I yielded, and we journeyed by train to this large and 
prosperous town of between five and six thousand inhab- 
itants, of a more or less ambitious character, and noted 
for a delightful Stadhuis all in red and white and sur- 
mounted by a delightfully bulbous cupola of pseudo 
oriental character which is most amusing. The bells are 
as usual visible above the balcony, but the church alone 
repays one for the journey hither. It is paved with fine 

237 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

old tombstones which will delight the antiquary, some 
very high in relief and very rich, too, in detail and floria- 
tion, so much so that one hesitates to tread upon them. 
We spent quite an hour deciphering the inscriptions, but 
although my friend was voluble in his explanations, I am 
not now much the wiser, for I was wearying a little of the 
English lessons which he exacted willy-nilly each night 
before we went to bed. 

Bolsward is a great place for the smoker, from what I 
saw of tobacco in the streets. My friend gave statistics, 
but I promptly forgot them, so I cannot set them down 
here. As well take away a Hollander's breath as his 
tobacco I He smokes at all times and in all places — no, 
not quite that — never in church. I tried to find out at 
what age boys begin to smoke. I have seen them on the 
way to school puffing away at a five-inch roll of very 
black tobacco with all the gusto of a veteran. 

The council chamber is a beautiful room paneled 
in dark-toned oak, with some fine flagons of pewter of 
very large proportions hanging on the wall. The ar- 
chives contain a document signed by the great Alva of 
Spain, referring to a dispute between Bolsward and Har- 
lingen in 1573. I called upon the burgomaster, who re- 
ceived us with great courtesy, and invited us to the inevit- 
able glass of port, after which he tried his English upon 
me, and I retaliated by trying my best Hollandish upon 
him, and we parted good friends, too. On the outskirts 

238 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

of the town I came upon the solitary local policeman, in 
full regalia, fishing placidly in the canal, and it was evi- 
dently nothing strange, for the passers-by greeted him 
without surprise. I noted that he had caught nothing. 
Everything is prosperous and clean-looking, but I have 
a sensitive nose and the canals do smell — in hot weather, 
at least. All was quiet, the children happily being in 
school, or we would have had the usual escort. The dyke 
was empty except for two women with yokes on their 
shoulders, brass-tipped and painted bright green, at the 
ends of which dangled brass cans. The women were 
shrilly arguing as they walked. I made some sketches 
while my friend discussed politics with the law minion. 
I saw here a large painted signboard (alas) like those we 
have in America, some 75 feet long and advertising in 
bright paint "Sunlight Zeep" (soap) . The piscatorial 
policeman here asked me, pointing to the signboard, could 
I paint letters as well as that, and when I shook my head 
negatively, both he and my friend seemed disappointed. 
Then he asked me did I know that there was a road from 
Sneek to Groningen more than a hundred miles long and 
brick paved its whole length. As the conversation did 
not seem apropos of anything, I again shook my head and 
said pleasantly, "Well, what of it?" This, it seemed, he 
could not answer, so we said "Goen's dag" (Good day) 
and came away. As I desired to visit Leeuwarden, we 
left Bolsward the following day by rail for Sneek, where 

239 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

we took passage on a little steamer well laden with house- 
hold utensils and furniture and a crowd of country peo- 
ple, the women in lovely gold casques covered with lace, 
and bright-colored shawls and waists of orange green and 
purple which enlivened the scene wonderfully. It took 
us upward of three hours and a half to make the trip, so 
often did we stop en route, but I did not grudge the delay, 
so entertaining was it all. Halfway, at Grouw (the pro- 
nunciation of which is something sounding like Hurrah) , 
the towers and steeples of Leeuwarden were visible some- 
what dimly on the horizon, dominated by the huge tower 
of the Oude Hof. 

Leeuwarden (they pronounce it "Low-varda") man- 
ages to maintain most of its former characteristics within 
the old limits of the Singel, and is said to be the center of 
the cattle trade of Friesland. It lies on flat green mea- 
dows, surrounded by solitary farmhouses and lonely hills 
and long stretches of silvery waterways. Its farmhouses 
are noted, and have been described elsewhere as having 
all the offices and buildings under one roof, which is liter- 
ally true. We passed en route a typical one. The roof 
rises from the ground almost to a point high over the clus- 
tering trees, looking from a distance not unlike a small 
replica in red tile of the pyramid of Cheops. The house 
roof is covered with dark brown, highly glazed tiles, and 
at intervals with unglazed tile. It is surrounded by a 
well-trimmed box hedge, and the shutters are painted 

240 



Bolsward — The Tower 



•v^tiJoT ^s\T — Vvviw?.\o& 




,->T1f' 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

green, the window sashes and frames are white, and in- 
side it is divided by a corridor. One-half is the house 
proper, the other the stable, etc. Overhead are sleeping- 
rooms for the help. The cow stable is empty, for it is 
summer time. Here the woodwork is scrubbed clean and 
bright, and at each stall is a small glazed window hung 
with a muslin curtain. At one end is the hayloft, and 
above rises the roof to a point; all about, neatly racked, 
are farming implements, and there is a clean stye for an 
immense sow and a litter of little pink pigs, almost as 
playful as kittens. The farmer told us that the rigors of 
the winters produced this type of house, as when the sea- 
son of snow begins the cows must be put under cover, 
each in its bestrawed and lace-curtained compartment, 
where it can be fed and watered in warmth and comfort, 
contemplating placidly the burnished brass utensils, and 
with the perfume of burning peat over all. But to return 
to Leeuwarden. The Friesian farmers regard it as head- 
quarters for the cattle trade, and are to be found here in 
large numbers on market days, which is rather interest- 
ing. There is also here much racing and trotting of 
horses — Harddraverij, as they call it in the language. 
The town is large, fairly clean, very prosperous, I am 
told, and the women are said to be beautiful. I did not 
see any such, but I remarked some fairly good-looking 
ones. It is upon Sunday, in church, and on the streets 
afterward, that one may see them to the best advantage 

241 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

in their glorious golden casques, and from an upper win- 
dow the effect of gold glittering in the sunlight on the 
heads of the crowds below is remarkable and worth trav- 
eling a long distance to see. 

My friend entertained me volubly with a more or less 
comprehensible account of the Friesians before we retired 
that night, and I gathered that these people are the 
descendants of a Germanic tribe and have preserved their 
characteristics comparatively unaltered. Charlemagne 
collected their ancient laws, and still in existence some- 
where is the Asegehuch in the old Friesian tongue and 
Latin containing the Friesian laws. The language here 
differs very considerably from that of the rest of the 
Netherlands, occupying an intermediate position be- 
tween Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse, and often, my friend 
said, closely resembling English. It boasts of a consid- 
erable literature, but is gradually being supplanted by 
the more modern tongue. I couldn't have had a more 
perfect guide than my companion, and I do not now 
begrudge the price I paid for his companionship, although 
the English lessons did wear upon my nerves. He was 
ever good-humored and enthusiastic — ever rising to the 
occasion, and I take pleasure here in thanking him with 
entire appreciation, and express the hope that his ambi- 
tions regarding the future burgomastership were realized, 
but I have never since heard from him, although I have 

242 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

sent him, occasionally, illustrated papers chronicling 
events in which I fancied him interested. 

In looking over the map I chanced upon the name of a 
town that seemed to possess attraction, being on the sea 
and away from the beaten track. It is called Nes. And 
as my friend had never even heard of it, we consulted the 
proprietor. He regarded us with amazement. Why 
did we wish to leave a comfortable hotel in a fine town 
to go to a miserable place like that? Nes I Why, that 
is in Ameland, a foreign country, a miserable little island 
across the Pinke Wad. The Pinke Wad! How delight- 
ful, I thought; the very name was attractive. So, in 
spite of the remonstrances of the hotel-keeper, who prom- 
ised a variety of entertainment if we would remain, we 
arranged then and there to leave the following morning 
for Dokkum, from where we could, I thought, hire a team 
to take us to Wierum, thence by boat to Nes. The morn- 
ing proved showery, but we decided to go on by a river 
boat through the canal. The skipper was an honest- 
looking fellow, who owned his boat and picked up a liv- 
ing carrying supplies. There was a tiny cabin where our 
traps were deposited, almost filling the space, and we cast 
off in the rain and sailed and poled along until we were 
overtaken by a small and dirty steamer, the captain of 
which very ungraciously, I thought, consented to take our 
line and tow us for two gulden, which sum I handed over 

243 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

in the rain, together with a couple of cigars. The gift 
lifted the cloud, so to speak, and he invited me to sit 
with him at the tiller and be cross-examined: Was I 
English? Where did I come from? America! In- 
deed, and why? What business was I in? What did 
it cost to come from America? So much? How much 
did herring bring in New York? How did it happen 
that I did not know? Was I married? Then where 
was my wife? Where was I going? To Nes? And 
why? Then I attacked him in turn: Had he never 
been to Nes? What? Was it possible? And why? 
Why should he indeed? Did he not know that the peo- 
ple of Nes were the finest people in North Holland? 
The most polite, too I The most cordial to the stranger. 
Strange, I said, that one so well informed as he should 
not know that Nes was such a desirable place — far more 
to be desired than Dokkum. At this he regarded me with 
such open-mouthed amazement that I could hardly keep 
from laughing, but I retained my composure and gravity, 
and, giving him another cigar, I returned to the boat 
astern where my companion remained soaking in the rain, 
which was still falling. I could see that the skipper of 
the little steamer was very uneasy in his mind regarding 
me, and at intervals in steering he would turn and gaze 
in my direction in a very puzzled manner. Evidently 
my appreciation of Nes and its attractions worried him. 
And so we continued during the nine miles from Leeu- 
244 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

warden to Dokkum, through the vast flat green meadows 
soaking in the mist and rain, passing occasionally a river 
boat being poled along by bent, silent, stolid men, who 
rarely vouchsafed a salute in return for ours, and occa- 
sionally a steep-roofed farmhouse, and black-and-white 
cattle grazing in the polders. Dokkum, at which we 
bade farewell to our boatman with thanks and the pa- 
troon of the steamer with some hilarity, which he gravely 
considered for long afterward, I well knew, is a small 
village with few characteristics differing from others of 
its class, is a clean place withal, and only noted as being 
the locality where St. Boniface was slain by the Friesians 
in the year 755 — so said my friend, consulting his book. 
We were escorted from the canal side to the small inn by 
the usual mob of children, the number of which increased 
as we walked, the phalanx headed by a remarkable-look- 
ing cross-eyed youth with a long, evil-smelling cigar in 
his mouth. Our names and destinations being entered in 
the book at the inn, we were served with schnapps (Gene- 
ver) and then changed our wet shoes and socks for dry 
ones in a large room on the upper floor, containing three 
huge beds piled high with gorgeous floriated, feathery 
quilts as thick as mattresses, each bed with a small flight 
of steps at its side. This was the entire accommodation 
for travelers afforded by the inn. What happened when 
a man and his wife arrived I could not but conjecture, but 
my friend seemed to think it unworthy of comment, at 

245 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

any rate. We created considerable excitement in Dok- 
kum. Wherever we went or whenever we left the inn 
we were followed by some of the natives, and always 
the children; when we halted they too stood still gravely 
considering our clothing and appearance. When I began 
to sketch they became so eager to see that the policeman 
and the postmaster came forth to examine and criticize, 
and even the old women, usually so indifferent to us, 
grew enthusiastic and voluble over something or other in 
my appearance, I know not what. I took refuge in a 
bakery, where I purchased a wonderfully constructed 
ginger cake, which I divided among the children ; it was, 
1 found, almost as hard as one of the brick klinkers of the 
pathway, but they chewed it appreciatively and said, 
severally, "Dank u well. Mynheer." The resources of 
the inn seemed to be taxed to the extreme by our pres- 
ence. The meals were tardy and the "Rundvleesch," or 
steak, was thin, barely warm, tough, and greasy; the pota- 
toes, too, were stale and, it seemed to me, had often been 
fried, served, and uneaten. I know that we did not eat 
them. The innkeeper was from Amsterdam originally, 
had come as a waiter or worker in the house, and upon 
the death of the proprietor had married the widow, a sour, 
hard-featured woman of large stature and brawn, who 
appeared occasionally at the doorway of the kitchen and 
loweringly regarded us, me particularly, I fancied, for 
whom she seemed to entertain some animosity; at any 

246 






aK:gKy::a^v^.c'retaa&sfe-.;:::vrg7S-iv- 



t7mii^Mifiifiiira-if ?--"'- "i,i.iHrtii,i,^,^i,i.M.- 



One of the Boys — Torment and Delight 



^slviW'iCl V^wv> \\n\«tiiT- — '7 oft "iA\ \o ■i\<0 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

rate I was really afraid of her. The innkeeper was an 
extraordinary person, who in the evening suddenly ad- 
dressed me in English, and when I expressed surprise 
shrugged his shoulders and informed me that he could 
"speak English, French, German, all tongues in fact. 
All the same to me what I spik ! What ye will !" Then 
went on to inform us that he had been in London, Paris, 
Cologne — everyfairel — while the sour-faced vrouwe, a 
child in her arms, regarded me loweringly from the dark 
doorway. When he found that we were going on the 
following day to leave him for ISIes by way of Wierum, 
he became strangely silent, then suddenly he said, ad- 
dressing no one in particular, but with his watery eyes 
fixed on the ceiling: 

"Wat baeter Kaers of brill, 
Als den uil niet sien wil." 

and retired into the dark doorway, where I heard him 
vehemently arguing with some one in his nasal gutturals. 
I somehow became apprehensive, of I know not what, but 
I asked my friend, who seemed troubled, what it was the 
fellow had said. 

"Of what use are the candles and spectacles when the 
owl will see not?" said he, translating laboriously. 
"But," said I, "what did he mean?" "It is a proverb," 
he answered, placing his forefinger at the side of his nose 
mysteriously, and would say no more. That night I en- 

247 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

tertained a select company in the taproom, consisting of 
the postmaster, the clergyman, and the local policeman, 
with accounts of New York City; of the subways then 
building beneath the city; of the electric tramway system; 
of the elevated railroad, which, by the way, I could see 
they regarded as exaggerated fiction upon my part; of the 
Flatiron Building, its shape and its wonderful height; 
of the electric elevators in it which raced up and down 
the entire day and part of the night; of the crowds of 
people who came into and left the city by day; of the 
wonderful bridges over the East River, and the ocean 
steamships that crossed in four and one-half days to and 
from Europe, and whatever else I fancied would astonish 
them. My audience appreciatively considered it all, 
and finally, when I yawned, they got up from the table 
gravely and, taking me by the hand in turn, thanked me 
for the honor of my company, and went each one of them 
home to his anxious wife to relate, perhaps, something of 
the wonders of which they had heard of the great world 
outside. That night I saw to the door-fastenings of the 
huge room where we slept, for I distrusted the innkeeper, 
and I had vague uncomfortable dreams of unheard-of 
villainies practiced upon me, but with the beams of the 
morning sun streaming into the room my fears all van- 
ished, and after a breakfast of tea, which we made our- 
selves on the table, and two or three cold boiled eggs, I 
paid the still scowling innkeeper's wife for our accommo- 

248 



THROUGH FRIESLAND 

dations, gave the baby in arms a dubbeltje for itself, and 
the cross-eyed boy shouldering our traps, we drove away 
in a high-waisted tilbury toward Wierum. I never saw 
the innkeeper again, and I was not sorry, though I have 
often wondered what was in his mind concerning me. 

The drive along the roads and the dyke was entirely 
uneventful, and I remember nothing of it, save that the 
boy beat the fat horse shamefully with a stout club and 
was ugly when I expostulated with him, so that I had to 
present him with a cigar to restore him to good humor. 
Wierum is a tiny town on the Friesclie Wadden, a shal- 
low body of water between Ameland and the Mainland. 
It is well dyked, and there are a few fishermen here, who 
make a very precarious living; they are not very civil to 
the stranger, and had I not had the company of a Hol- 
lander, I think I might have fared very badly. The 
country is dismal in the extreme, and on the day I ar- 
rived, with the wind blowing a gale, the clouds black and 
lowering, seemingly within reach overhead, I think I 
never saw a drearier-looking place. We repaired at once 
to the house of the postmaster, a singular-looking man 
with badly fitting false teeth, which clicked and rattled 
as he talked — that is, when he did talk, which was but 
seldom when we were with him. Amid the howling of 
the gale and the banging of shutters on the house, he told 
us that we should have gone to Holwerd, a small town 
farther to the south, from which we might have made 

249 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

better arrangements to get over to Nes. But we might, 
he said, remain with him until to-morrow if we liked, 
when we could make our arrangements. This was a spot 
rarely visited by a stranger, he said; no, he had never 
seen an artist there; he was a painter himself, and a 
glazier, too, but there was but little business for him in 
such a small place, so he had secured the position of post- 
master, likewise he attended to the formalities of fu- 
nerals; no, he was not an undertaker, he simply notified 
the undertaker when necessary; he bought and sold pota- 
toes, beets, and fish for the dealers in Leeuwarden; he 
was also acting as secretary of the Raad or Town Coun- 
cil — that is to say, when they met, which was not often. 
Here was a real Dutch prototype of "Pooh Bah," the 
first I had ever met, and he bore his honors with dignity, 
too. He had a fine boxwood carved pipe-case sticking 
out of his coat pocket, from which he presently extracted 
a well-colored clay pipe, filled and lighted it and clenched 
it tightly between his misfit teeth. It was too stormy to 
venture out of doors, for the wind blew violently from 
the sea over the dunes and dyke, and soon the rain drove 
against the windows in sheets, the roadway outside ran 
in rivers of water, and rarely did any one pass by. So 
the afternoon passed, and as nightfall came on a man or 
two dropped in for a glass of "bitters" or a smoke. How 
should one get to Nes, I asked. At the question the two 
men playing billiards at the end of the taproom turned to 

250 



Sneek — The JVater Gate 



''-IMP''' 




THROUGH FRIESLAND 

regard me anew. Nes, indeed I I was plainly an object 
of suspicion to them. What should a stranger want at 
Nes?' My friend here addressed them volubly. It was 
difficult to follow him, so rapidly did he fire the gutturals 
at them. I heard many "neens" uttered in various keys, 
sometimes very sharply and again very slowly uttered. 
It is certainly amazing what shades of expression a Hol- 
lander can give to his words. Then my friend informed 
me that we might find it difficult to get through the Fmke 
Wad. Well and good, quoth I. I care not if it takes a 
week. The Pinke Wad hath no terror for me. Pike's 
Peak or bust! I said to my friend, and he made me repeat 
it so that he had it by heart. And then, of course, I must 
explain what Pike's Peak or bust meant. This took so 
much time that it was quite nine by the clock when he 
had finally mastered it, and it so delighted him that he 
rolled it upon his tongue as a sweet morsel, although he 
would call it occasionally Pikspike, so I finally ceased to 
correct him. I don't know what a Pinke Wad is, even 
now. I never found out. For the rain it rained as I 
had never seen it before or since, and the wind blew a 
gale night and day, during which I, clad in rubber coat 
and high boots, haunted the dyke and the dunes buffeted 
by the winds and drenched by driving rain. I hated to 
give up the delightful unknown dangers of the Pinke 
Wad, and the equally unknown joys of Nes, but I could 
get no one to undertake a journey or a sail over the 

251 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

boiling yellow waters of the Meer into the mist where it 
lay hidden from my sight. In the storm some of the 
boats were cast up high and dry on the stone dyke, others 
tore loose from their moorings and were carried away 
over the Meer. Roofs leaked and chimneys in the little 
village were blown down. As I passed along the narrow 
street, bending to the storm, anxious white-faced vrouws 
peered at me from the small windows. My friend would 
not venture forth, but hugged the smoky peat fire in the 
small taproom, studied the dictionary, and formulated 
new and intricate grammatical problems with which to 
bait me whenever we were together. I came near hating 
him, and I sickened at the sound of the reiterated "Piks- 
pike," And — well, that ended it. I never saw Nes. 
On the morning of the fourth day we left Wierum ; it was 
still raining! There is still then in Holland one place 
at least which I was never to see, and as such it is em- 
balmed in the amber of my discontent — Nes, the un- 
known ; Nes, the, for me, ungetatable. And so I left 
Friesland. 



252 



Stt^ %nMt 



^B^HE first inhabitants of Holland came from Ger- 
fl U many and adopted as their new home the island of 
^■•^ Batavia, a long strip of land lying within the 
forked estuary of the Rhine. So brave a race were they 
that the bodyguards of the Roman Emperors were drawn 
from their ranks. It is said that Friesland and the north- 
ern districts were likewise peopled with these German mi- 
grants, but they differed in national character and ad- 
mitted no allegiance to the Romans, then paramount 
throughout northwest Europe, and became known as the 
free Friesians. Under Charlemagne's powerful rule 
(a. d. 800) the provinces, including what is now Bel- 
gium, were united. After the conquest of the Belgians, 
the Batavians became the allies of Rome; later on they 
disappeared. Fifty years later, by the treaty of Verdun, 
the country was divided. Batavia and Friesland were al- 
loted to Germany, while Dukes and Counts, each ruling, 
yet subject to the German Emperors, were appointed to 
the provinces, which now became principalities. Trade 
routes were established to distant parts of the world; law 
rather than might made itself manifest in various charters 
from Princes to people. At the end of the thirteenth cen- 

253 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

tury the rulers are found presiding over the provincial 
estates, marking the beginning of constitutional govern- 
ment. At this period came the great inundation when 
the North Sea burst through the dunes and rolled in over 
the low-lying lands, uniting with an inland lake. The 
ocean engulfed more than a thousand Friesian villages 
and formed the present Zuyderzee. Philip, Duke of 
Burgundy, surnamed "The Good," dispossessed his 
young cousin, Jacquelin, of her rightful heritage of Hain- 
ault, Zeeland, and North and South Holland. Soon 
after he acquired Luxemburg and assumed lordship over 
Friesland as a matter of course. He established at 
Bruges (1429) the Order of the Golden Fleece; in 1467 
he was succeeded by his son, Charles the Bold, whose 
dominant object was to make his dukedom a kingdom. 
He ruined his country financially, and died ignomin- 
iously. His daughter, the Lady Mary, inherited the vast 
but impoverished realm. They lie buried side by side 
in magnificent, gilded, enameled, and marble tombs in 
the Cathedral at Bruges. 

Louis XI of France, another member of the Golden 
Fleece, earned the laurels of the order by seizing Bur- 
gundy, It was now that Lady Mary, to secure the loyal 
adhesion of her subjects, granted them "the Great Priv- 
ilege," the Magna Charta of Holland. In 1493, her hus- 
band, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, inherited his 
father's throne. Notice the accretion of thrones and 

254 



THE REPUBLIC 

principalities. Maximilian's son, Philip the Fair, heir 
to enormous territory, married the Princess of Castile and 
Aragon, and thus added Spain to the family domain. 
Philip's son was Charles V, King of Spain, Emperor of 
Germany, Emperor of Austria, King of the Netherlands, 
Duke of Burgundy, and monarch practically of half the 
known world. 

Under the Spanish rule the inhabitants of Holland be- 
came restive, and finally forcibly resented its tyranny and 
robbery, following which Charles V confiscated the Great 
Privilege and all municipal rights. The people de- 
murred. Punishment swiftly followed, and Charles 
scourged the people into submission with rods of iron, 
and squandered their blood and treasure in European 
wars. He now sought to exterminate heresy by execu- 
tion, and failed. In 1555, wearied with wars and the 
cares of state, he abdicated in favor of his son, Philip II, 
a gloomy monarch of fanatical tendencies, assassinator of 
William, Prince of Orange; the strong maintainer of the 
Inquisition with its tens of thousands of slaughtered vic- 
tims, and the deliberate midnight murderer of his own 
son, Don Carlos. Holland's darkest hour was at hand. 
Motley vividly portrays the hell let loose upon the king- 
dom. With the assistance of his servile minister, Gran- 
ville, the Inquisition did its work. The King retired to 
Spain, but quartered his Spanish troops throughout the 
States, to the impoverishment and despair of the people. 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

The King's sister, Margaret of Parma, was installed in 
the Netherlands as regent. At this distressful period, 
three champions of liberty — namely, William, Prince of 
Orange; Count Egmont, a brilliant general, and Count 
Horn — urged the King to redress the people's wrongs. 
They claimed (i) the withdrawal of the troops ; (2) the 
removal of the Inquisition; (3) the restoration of the 
people's right through the States General to vote the 
sums of money demanded by the King. The King now 
retired both Margaret of Parma and Granville in favor 
of the Duke of Alva, and the garrisons were doubled by 
an army sent from Spain to suppress the insurrection and 
root out the heretics. With callous brutality, Alva in- 
vited Egmont and Horn to a banquet; though urged by 
William of Orange to beware of treachery, they went, 
were seized by Alva's soldiers, and notwithstanding their 
rank and services to Philip, were executed. By behead- 
ing, hanging, burning, and torturing on the rack, the 
Duke of Alva put to death some one thousand persons, 
while many thousands were driven out of the country. 
The insurrection then became a war of independence, un- 
der the leadership of William of Orange. Eventually, 
the Dutch Protestants were successful, and several of the 
provinces, renouncing their allegiance to Spain, pro- 
claimed the Prince of Orange stadhouder, and by a treaty 
at Utrecht (1579) laid the foundation of the Dutch 
Republic. 

256 



Hindeloopen — The Headdress 



\\\\u\'A\ •iv\T — vn<\oo\Ti\iv\\\i 



THE REPUBLIC 

William the Silent, who is said to have earned the 
sobriquet because he controlled himself and made no com- 
ment when Henry II had arranged a general massacre of 
Protestants throughout France and the Netherlands, 
saved by his prudence, at any rate for a time, the threat- 
ened disaster. He was Charles V's favorite ambassador. 
He was born in 1533 and died in 1584. Although a 
stanch Catholic and supporter of the King, William re- 
peatedly protested to him against Alva's atrocities, but 
without the slightest effect. The blood council was now 
established, and incredible as it is now to believe, sen- 
tence of death was passed upon the whole of the inhabi- 
tants of the Netherlands (February 16, 1568). Philip 
confirmed the edict, and ordered its immediate execu- 
tion. Thus Alva's victims could be executed without 
even the formality of a mock trial. (See Motley.) 

William of Orange took active steps to oppose Alva 
but, too utterly cowed to assist, the Dutch populace re- 
mained passive while the Prince spent his own fortune 
on foreign troops. Despite the valor of his brothers 
Louis and John, defeats followed. The Beggars of the 
Sea, a body of nobles banded together to resist Alva, met 
with some success. Prince William's own States, Zee- 
land and Holland, on land alone, showed determination 
to resist. The massacre of St. Bartholomew only stimu- 
lated the desires of Philip and Alva. Cities whose in- 
habitants defied the Spaniards were besieged. Surren- 

257 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

der on promise of mercy nearly always resulted in the 
inhabitants being put to the sword, as at Naarden and 
Haarlem. (See Motley.) The siege of Leyden, how- 
ever, brought a sudden check to the Spaniards, for when 
the city was at its last gasp, William, from his fever- 
stricken couch, ordered the cutting of the dykes, whereby 
the country was flooded. His fleet of warships being in 
readiness, he sailed up to the very walls of the city. 
Through years of toil and privation William held 
to his trust, the freeing of his country. Affectionately 
called Father William, he matched his intellect against 
the cleverest men of his age, and with his enthusiasm kept 
alive the waning spark of national patriotism. His is a 
solitary and splendid figure. When, in 1581, the Hol- 
land States finally renounced their allegiance to Spain, 
Prince William was elected stadhouder, after he had em- 
phatically refused any higher title. On July 10, 1584, 
an obscure hireling of Philip II, tempted by the large re- 
ward offered by the King, gained access and secreted him- 
self near the principal stairway of Prince William's 
house. Armed with a pistol, he fired several poisoned 
bullets at the Prince, two of which took effect. Thus 
passed the spirit of this great man, his last words as he 
fell being a prayer, "God save this unhappy country." 
The murderer was promptly executed, his flesh being torn 
from his body by hot pincers, but his parents, on claim- 

258 



THE REPUBLIC 

ing the blood money from Philip II, were at once exalted 
and granted patents of nobility. 

The Hollanders were undismayed, William's son, 
Maurice, was then elected stadhouder, and ruled until 
1625 amid a period of increasing prosperity, The re- 
public grew and flourished in spite of the theological dis- 
putes which were rife, and in consequence of which the 
pensionary, John Van Olden Barnevelt, was put to death 
by Maurice. The war with Spain was vigorously carried 
on. The Dutch admirals, De Ruyter and Tromp, added 
immensely to the power and reputation of Holland. 
With commercial prosperity, the population rapidly in- 
creased; both on land and sea the Dutch defeated their 
former masters. The merchant fleets navigated the 
world and founded the Dutch colonies. On the death of 
Maurice, his brother, Frederick Henry (1645-1647) , suc- 
ceeded as stadhouder, and the prosperity of the country 
reached its zenith. The commerce of Holland was re- 
nowned the world over, and the Dutch navigators, paint- 
ers, and scientists were in their full glory. By the peace 
of Westphalia, the great work of William the Silent was 
completed. 

Europe had acknowledged the independence of the 
provinces, and William II, son of Frederick, came to 
the throne, surviving his father by only a few years. In 
consequence of dissensions breaking out, John De Witt 

259 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

was elected grand pensionary. In 1652, the first naval 
war with England was declared, in consequence of the 
navigation act passed by the English Parliament, which 
was intended to promote the navigation laws of Britain 
and to strike a blow at the naval power of the Dutch. 
Admirals Tromp and De Ruyter came to the fore, and 
the English fleet suffered more than one heavy reverse. 
At the outbreak of the second war, in 1664, De Ruyter 
succeeded in sailing up the river Thames as far as Chat- 
ham. 

Louis XIV of France cast covetous eyes on the 
Netherlands, alleging a right to them on behalf of his 
Spanish wife, Maria Theresa, but he was checkmated by 
the triple alliance, formed by John De Witt between 
England, Holland's quondam enemy, and Sweden and 
Holland to resist that very attack. De Witt, however, 
fell a victim to the vengeance of the people, who accused 
him of harboring designs against the stadhouder, Wil- 
liam III, who was now at the head of the provinces. In 
1672, England went to war with Holland again, and in 
the same year, the triple alliance having been dissolved, 
Louis of France took possession of certain of the Dutch 
provinces, and De Witt, with his brother, was killed 
by the infuriated Dutch mob at The Hague. The young 
Prince of Orange then became stadhouder, and in 1688 
was crowned William III, King of England. His 
cousin, Prince John William of Friesland, was elected 

260 



Gorkiim — Old Houses 



ughsh i 



>.a>.«oVl MO — mH^toO" 




■i\. 



c,.l 






THE REPUBLIC 

President of the Republic and waged war with England 
against France. The war lasted for about eight years, 
terminating in the treaty of Utrecht, 1713. John's son, 
William IV, followed as stadhouder, and again war with 
England for naval supremacy ensued. In 1781, Hol- 
land lost most of her colonies, and the French Republic 
took possession of Holland in 1795. The brother of 
Napoleon, Louis Bonaparte, was made King in 1805, 
and five years later Bonaparte formally annexed Hol- 
land under the pretext that it was an alluvion of French 
rivers. Mention should be made of the memorable feat 
of the French general Pichegru in capturing the frozen- 
up Dutch jfleet by bringing his cavalry over the ice. The 
flight of the stadhouder, William V, to England brought 
into existence the Batavian Republic, which with R. J. 
Schimmelpennick as President acquired a brief notoriety. 
Louis Bonaparte, as King of Holland, occupied the 
throne for five years, during which time Napoleon's 
"Continental System," recoiling upon his own head, 
brought commercial ruin to Holland. Louis resigned 
the crown in 1810, and Napoleon incorporated Holland 
with France. After his crushing defeat at Leipsic, the 
Dutch, with the help of Russia and Prussia, the allies, 
and England, swept the French over the border, and 
peace dawned again over the distressful country after 
Napoleon's overthrow at Waterloo. The famous Lion 
Monument on the battlefield is erected over the spot 

261 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

where the Prince of Orange was wounded while leading 
his Nassau regiment to the charge. 

The restoration of the House of Orange resulted in the 
acceptance of the crown (1813) by William, the son of 
the exiled stadhouder, and in 1815, by the Vienna treaty, 
Belgium was added to the kingdom, and the Prince of 
Orange, under the title of William I, was crowned King 
of the Netherlands. Dissensions, the result of incom- 
patibility, soon followed between the Dutch and the Bel- 
gians, the latter complaining of the assumption of su- 
premacy by the Dutch, and, furthermore, objecting to the 
compulsory use of the Dutch language replacing Flemish 
and the official French. Holland being Protestant and 
loyally attached to the House of Orange, while Belgium, 
too long subjugated to Spain and France, being anti- 
Orange and Roman Catholic, separation resulted. In 
1830, the European powers, fearing further complica- 
tions, prevailed upon Holland to accept the severance. 
After ten years of unrest, the King abdicated, and Wil- 
liam II ruled over Holland, with the Duchy of Luxem- 
burg added under the Vienna treaty, from 1840 to 1849, 
when he was succeeded by William III. Princess Emma 
of Waldeck and Pyrmont (sister of the Duchess of Al- 
bany and consort of William III) acted as regent at her 
husband's death and during the minority of her daughter, 
Wilhelmina. Her regency is held in affectionate re- 
membrance by the people of Holland. Wilhelmina was 

262 



THE REPUBLIC 

born on August 31, 1880, and was crowned in 1898 amid 
the rejoicing of the entire nation. As Queen she re- 
ceived the homage due to her exalted rank, but it is as 
Princess of Orange and in her lace cap as a Frieslander, 
descendant of that race of patriots who dedicated their 
fortunes and themselves to the salvation of Holland, 
that she reigns in the hearts of her devoted subjects. In 
1901 her majesty was married to Henry, Duke of Meck- 
lenburg-Schwerin, on whom she was permitted to confer 
the title of Prince Henry of the Netherlands. One 
should note the fact that it was because of her exalted 
rank she was forced by the laws to propose marriage to 
the Duke. It has been both urged and denied that it 
was a love match. As far as one may judge, the attitude 
of the Hollander toward the consort is one of tolerance. 

These historical details are really necessary to the 
proper understanding of the pages which follow, as 
showing the origin of these remarkable people, and the 
great influence which they have wielded over civiliza- 
tion. Indeed, it would surprise some readers to learn 
that the best of the laws of both Great Britain and 
America are derived from the Netherlands, and that the 
two great elements ("The Puritan in Holland, England, 
and America," Douglas Campbell) that have con- 
tributed to make America what it is are, one, the civili- 
zation of ancient Rome, with its genius for government 
and its instinct for justice and equal rights; the other, 

263 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

the strong wild blood of the Germanic race with its 
passion for individual freedom, which has given its 
nerve, strength, and energy to modern Europe. The 
first of these elements was utterly extinguished in Eng- 
land by the Anglo-Saxon conquest, while the feudal 
system afterward came in to rob the Germanic conquerors 
of many of their early ideas regarding civil liberty. 

One country alone, Holland, was largely free from 
this devastation. There the civilization of Rome was 
never extinguished, and the feudal system took but 
feeble root. The people preserved more purely than any 
others their Germanic ideas and institutions, but en- 
grafted on them the arts, the learning, and the laws de- 
rived from communication with civilized and civilizing 
Italy. To the patriot, to the lover of civil and religious 
liberty, as well as to the student of art and science in any 
land, this history of this republic and country must al- 
ways have a peculiar charm. But apart from its general 
features, this history is so interwoven with that of Eng- 
land and America that any one concerned with the past 
of either of these countries will find it a subject of un- 
failing interest. When modern Englishhien set out to 
write the history of their country, they crossed the chan- 
nel and described the Angles and the Saxons in their 
early home upon the continent. That home was so near 
the Netherlands that the people of Holland and the con- 
querors of Britain spoke substantially the same language, 

264 



A Street in Leyden 



n<iVi'nA s<i ^-^-^-rt?. \\ 



■'^^mwM 




THE REPUBLIC 

and were almost of one blood. To the Englishman, 
thinking only of the greatness of his own land, this orig- 
inal relationship may seem sufficient honor for a tiny 
fragment of the earth's surface not as large as Switzer- 
land, but it is only the first chapter of the story. For 
hundreds of years in later times, and until long after the 
settlement of America, the Netherlands stood as the 
guide and instructor of England in almost everything 
which has made her materially great. When the Refor- 
mation came, in which northwestern Europe was new 
born, it was the Netherlands which led the van, and for 
eighty years waged the war which disenthralled the souls 
of men. Out of that conflict, shared by thousands of 
heroic Englishmen, but in which England as a nation 
hardly had a place, Puritanism was evolved — the Puri- 
tanism which gave its triumph to the Netherlands Repub- 
lic, and has shaped the character of the English-speaking 
race. 

In time England came to hate the benefactor to whom 
she owed so much; thus, after the restoration of the 
Stuarts, and still more after the Tory reaction which fol- 
lowed the Revolution of 1688, the political writers about 
the court habitually ridiculed the Dutchmen for virtues 
which they could not understand. (See Rogers' "Story 
of Holland.") 

The republican Hollander deemed the attentions of 
King or noble to his wife or daughter a disgrace. The 

265 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

courtiers about Charles II viewed this subject differently, 
and regarded the Dutchman as ill-mannered for his want 
of taste. Added to this was the Hollander's respect for 
the private rights of all classes; his devotion to art and 
learning; his love of fair dealing in personal and in pub- 
lic matters; his industry, frugality; and, finally, his uni- 
versal toleration. No one could deny the Dutchmen's 
courage, for they were among the boldest soldiers and 
sailors that the world has ever seen; but they were not 
gentlemen from the aristocratic point of view. Sir "Wil- 
liam Temple, one of the most elegant and accomplished 
gentlemen at the court of Charles II, being sent as ambas- 
sador to The Hague, related some of his experiences, 
among others the following, which illustrates the author- 
ity of woman in Holland: Dining one day with the 
chief burgomaster of Amsterdam and having a severe 
cold, he noticed that every time he spat on the floor while 
at table a tight, handsome wench stood in a corner hold- 
ing a cloth, got down on her knees and wiped it up. See- 
ing this, he turned to his host and apologized for the 
trouble which he gave, receiving the jocular response: 
"It is well for you that my wife is not at home, for she 
would have turned you out of the house for soiling her 
floor, although you are the English ambassador" (Doug- 
las Campbell). 

For art, for science, and deep scholarship no other coun- 
try could be compared with Holland in her palmy days. 

266 



THE REPUBLIC 

But Holland owed pre-eminence in these departments 
not to an aristocracy, nor even to a monied class whose in- 
herited wealth led them to abstain from business. The 
men who sustained her painters and musicians, who fos- 
tered science and broad learning, were the plain burghers, 
merchants, and manufacturers in the cities, men whom 
Queen Elizabeth called "base mechanics," who worked 
themselves, and by example or by precept taught that 
labor alone is honorable. 

James Geddes, in his "John De Witt," relates an inci- 
dent which will show how mathematics were cultivated 
in the Netherlands. In 1617, a young French soldier, 
serving in the Dutch army, was passing through the 
streets of Breda. A crowd was gathered on the corner, 
and he pushed forward to learn the cause of the excite- 
ment. Its members were all studying a paper, posted 
on the wall, and talking about its contents. Not under- 
standing the language, he asked a bystander to translate 
it into French or Latin. The paper contained an ab- 
struse mathematical problem, which in this way had been 
submitted to the public for solution. The soldier ob- 
tained his translation, went to his quarters, and in a few 
days after sent in the correct answer, signed "Descartes." 
This was the introduction to the world of the greatest 
philosopher and mathematician of the age, whose trans- 
cendant ability was at once recognized in Holland. 

The Hollander has ever been incorruptible. Never in 
267 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

war or peace, though Spain was lavish of promises and a 
master of corruption, was native Hollander bought with 
gold. When, in 1608, the Spanish ambassadors were on 
their way to negotiate a treaty at The Hague, they saw 
eight or ten persons land from a little boat, and, sitting 
down on the grass, make a meal of bread, cheese, and 
beer. "Who are these travelers'?" said the Spaniards to 
the peasant. "They are the deputies from the State," he 
answered, "our sovereign lords and masters." "Then we 
must make peace," they cried; "these are not men to be 
conquered." 

It was Holland, also, which carefully and wisely en- 
couraged and maintained the freedom of trade, as may be 
seen from an incident which occurred so far back as the 
reign of Edward I of England. That monarch, in a let- 
ter addressed to Robert, Earl of Flanders, states that he 
has learned of an active intercourse carried on between 
the Scotch and the Flemings ; and as the former had taken 
part with Robert Bruce, who was in rebellion against him 
and excommunicated by the Pope, he begged that the 
Earl would put a stop to this intercourse and exclude the 
Scotch from his dominion. The Earl's answer was full 
of respect for the English King, whom he desired to 
please, but he said frankly, as to the main question: 
"We must not conceal it from your majesty that our 
country of Flanders is open to all the world, where every 
person finds a free admission. Nor can we take away this 

268 




A Zeeland Interior 



■\o"n'i\M\ \>Kft\^'iSL Vv 




:: '""^■■' •■■■■■■ -^-^"^ 



THE REPUBLIC 

privilege from persons concerned in commerce without 
bringing ruin and destruction upon our country. If the 
Scotch go to our ports and our subjects go to theirs, it is 
neither the intention of ourselves or our subjects to en- 
courage them in their error, but only to carry on our traffic 
without taking any part with them." This was always 
the policy of the Netherland States and the Dutch Re- 
public. 

In an article on Leyden University by Prof. W. T. 
Hewett in Harper s Magazine for March, 1881, Prof. 
Hewett, himself a student at this famous university, in 
common with every intelligent observer who has lived in 
Holland, was much struck with the similarity between 
the Dutch and the American modes of thought. He says : 
"The Dutch mind is more like the American in its method 
of thought than is that of any other nation of the conti- 
nent. There is the same intensity of feeling on all re- 
ligious questions, the same keen practical genius. The 
purpose of the Hollander is direct. The Hollander 
understands American and republican institutions and 
their true foundations in the intelligence and self-control 
of the people. I have always felt sure of being under- 
stood when speaking with an educated Hollander, 
whether discussing church and state or our political ques- 
tions. He could rightly estimate the real and unreal 
dangers which attend democratic governments, as our 
English cousins are not always in the habit of domg." 

269 



j^utrt &M 



aT is a curious but interesting fact that the revival 
of the silversmith's art in the Netherlands should 
largely have been brought about by the demands of 
American collectors, and all within the last twenty-five 
years. And now, I am credibly informed, there are cer- 
tain factories operated in New Jersey which can turn you 
out fairly made reproductions of the antique specimens 
of the Leeuwarden silversmiths, and which are doubtless 
often sold to the unwary as genuine. One of the dealers 
grinned when I taxed him with the imposition, and with a 
shrug rejoined, "Well — the rest do it, why shouldn't I?" 
It is difficult to specify the "ear-marks" of fraudulent 
antique Dutch silver, for it is said these unscrupulous 
traders can furnish one with anything for which there is 
sufficient demand — and it is safe to say that more than 
half of the so-called: "antique" spoons owned in America 
are spurious. There are, of course, honorable merchants 
in the business whose word may be unhesitatingly ac- 
cepted, but even in Amsterdam there are factories turning 
out these "antiques" to order, all bearing the "authentic" 
marks and stamps, and there is no law apparently to stop 
them. 

270 



DUTCH SILVER 

Leeuwarden in Friesland seems to have been the 
headquarters for the silver workers of the XV th, XVIth 
and XVIIth centuries, and from this locality came the best 
of the magnificent ships at present in the museums of 
Europe. The picture herewith shows a notable one of 
four masts, and full rigged with square sails and yards, 
the decks thronged with sailors who are working the six 
guns, while between the main and mizzen masts rises a 
castellated structure of five stages, from which the ad- 
miral directed the battle. On the sides are repousse 
scenes showing amphitrites charioted, drawn by conven- 
tional sea-horses. This specimen is evidently intended 
for a wine-bottle holder, is mounted on wheels, and is 
nearly twenty-five inches in height. It bears upon the 
sails the coat-of-arms of some royal personage, and was 
evidently made as a presentation-piece. The foresail 
appears to be modern, for it bears a nondescript device 
differing from the rest, and is most unheraldic. This is 
a very fair sample of the silversmiths' art of Leeuwarden 
in the XVIIth century, although there are many in exist- 
ence, notably in the vast collection of the Emperor of 
Germany, which are much larger and more elaborate in 
detail and ornamentation. 

These ships were not always intended for use as wine- 
bottle holders; many specimens were intended simply for 
ornaments, and these are variously mounted on stands or 
rockers instead of wheels, and vary in size from three 

271 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

inches in height to three feet. Some of these are here 
pictured in various rigs, from that of a fishing smack to a 
sloop-of-war. After the victory of Tromp, who "swept 
the sea," there was a great demand upon the smiths of 
Friesland for battleships, and it was during this period 
that most of these notable examples were made. The 
activity of these Leeuwarden silver workers was phe- 
nomenal. There seems to have been a guild established 
early in the XV th century, under the authority of one of 
the dukes, and a provincial governor was appointed in 
the person of one Petrus Eggers, who was originally a 
die cutter or sinker, and able to use the metal appar- 
ently as a sculptor. His works were soon in great de- 
mand among the nobles. He was able to cut his molds 
with such excellence that his castings required a minimum 
of finishing. He attracted to himself many pupils, who 
in turn became famous workers, and soon the craft became 
most powerful, and was able to make laws restricting the 
output to the actual members of the guild. We now find 
the guild ordering that all silver brought into the town 
should be stamped with the device of the founder. This 
rule extended to other towns eventually. The guild 
then ordered that only two qualities of metal be allowed, 
a fine and a coarse, the latter to contain not more than 20 
per cent, of base metal, — all silver on sale in the city to 
be brought to the guild for assaying, and the quality to 
be fixed and stamped. Wardens were appointed to 

272 




Model of JFarship in Silver Repousse 



Wi^ \mM^V< 



DUTCH SILVER 

search for bad work and spurious metal, which could be 
confiscated, and the importation of metal was restricted 
to the guild. No foreigner was allowed to practice or 
be taught the craft. Every seller was to mark his ware 
with a private mark or "touch," which mark was kept in 
the custody of the guild. As the demand for silver grew, 
other branch guilds were established in neighboring 
towns, all allied to the parent or mother corporation. 
There was formed a Guild of Hammermen, which com- 
prised all the trades that used the hammer in their work. 
It became a powerful body, and its members played no 
small part in the history of the region. 

To the collector of silver the marks stamped upon the 
silver of the period have been more or less of a sealed 
book, for the loss of the "touch stamps" and the dearth 
of authentic information on the subject have put obsta- 
cles in the way of many who might wish to decipher the 
meaning of the marks. Some of the more prominent and 
usual marks or stamps, to enumerate only a few, are : A 
lion and a key, with a large Gothic A in a square; L.o. 
and a lion rampant; a crowned tulip, octagon stamp; A 
stork; A mermaid; A fish; Two small figures standing 
hand in hand. The Hall mark, so-called — or state guar- 
antee, is a Netherland lion rampant, so I am informed by 
an authority. These marks are to be found generally on 
the back of the pieces, but it must be remarked that these 
devices will mean little to the collector, for they are and 

273 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

will be imitated as long as there is a demand for the arti- 
cles. The quantity of articles and objects made by the 
silversmiths in this period is simply astounding, and the 
artistic variety and invention displayed must always be 
a matter of wonderment. Happily the museums are re- 
plete with the objects, so that there is little need for new 
invention. The guilds and their restrictions have long 
since passed away, and now we find the factories in Am- 
sterdam and the larger cities reproducing these designs 
with considerable fidelity, and supplying the bric-a-brac 
shops with reproductions, which certainly should be sold 
as such. Unhappily this is not the case. But the astute 
collector is on his guard, so that it is generally only the 
innocent "nouveaux" who are deceived. One article I 
find offered for sale in most of the shops is the figure of a 
woman standing, her dress forming, when inverted, a 
drinking cup. Her arms are usually held above her head 
and clasp, sometimes a crown, sometimes a sort of can- 
delabra. This is not Dutch, but Niirnberg work. The 
Dutch inverted cup, it should be noted, has either a wind- 
mill or a ship surmounting it. 

The cream jug in the form of a cow is frequently met 
with. The form with the tail curled up over the back 
as a handle is said to be the earlier example — while the 
stork as a perfume bottle, the head hinged, belongs to the 
same period. Of spoons and forks the variety is unlim- 
ited apparently, the most usual designs being the stork, 

274 



DUTCH SILVER 

windmill, and the ship of one sail. The ones sur- 
mounted by the figure of a milkmaid with yoke and pend- 
ant pails are, I think, quite modern. Apostle spoons are 
quite common in the shops, but they too, almost invari- 
ably, are modern, and generally of German origin. 
Strangely enough, in those spoons surmounted with a 
crown, the latter is generally of Russian form, and not 
Dutch, although cresting the Lion of the Netherlands. 
Sometimes the shield will bear simply three X X X ar- 
ranged vertically, and this is supposed to represent the 
arms conventional of windmills on the shield of Amster- 
dam. I am convinced that this is a very modern design. 
Of the small cabinet objects, there is a bewildering va- 
riety, of sleighs, with and without figures; cabinets, bu- 
reaus, chairs, settees, clocks, carriages, tables, cheese car- 
riers, horsemen, soldiers, and a thousand other objects, all 
tiny and exquisitely and quaintly wrought. 

I saw once a complete set of the Kermis in miniature — 
with the tents, showmen, merry-go-rounds and peasants 
all complete. Models of the churches are sometimes 
found, as well as miniature farms complete to the small- 
est details of the dog chained to his kennel, and there are 
also the weigh-houses, and city gates, such as shown in 
the picture. The Zeeland belt clasps of repousse work 
are, as a rule, genuine, there being small demand for 
them except among the peasantry. They are usually 
Biblical in design — representing Adam and Eve, Re- 

275 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

becca at the well, or some such characters. They may 
be had at Middelburg in Walcheren, and cost fifteen or 
twenty dollars on market days. The would-be collector 
would better beware of the lozenge boxes, for these have 
been in great demand, and have been reproduced in enor- 
mous quantities, stamped from dies. The same may be 
urged as to the tea-caddy. Of course, this warning is 
only for the would-be collector. For the householder, 
who cares not for authenticity, these objects of substitu- 
tion and commerce are pretty, and generally of better 
design than those of the frankly modern silversmith. 

I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. H. Koopman for 
the photographs of Dutch silver in illustration of this 
chapter. 



276 




Six Rare Examples of Sleighs in Silver 



^^■j\\?. stv ',v^ib\?j \i:i i%\(\WKiy.S "i'^ftSl y.\1. 



aND now the author must take leave of his beloved 
Holland, and of his reader likewise. If by what 
he has read herein the latter is induced to discover 
the Netherlands for himself, I wish him all the pleasure 
and profit which I know awaits him there, and if he be 
able, as the poet puts it, 

"To descry abundant worth in trivial commonplace," 

a double pleasure will be his. 

Whether he chooses, with Hazlitt, to travel alone, or 
prefers, like Sterne, "to have a companion, were it but 
to remark how the shadows lengthen as the sun declines," 
is for himself to decide, but in any event no one can 
appreciate the sterling character of the Hollander, his 
high ideals and his attainments, until he has seen the 
wonderful country which he has created and made to 
prosper in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties. 
The superficial observer will perhaps not see as much of 
the expected bizarre, or the amphibious element at which 
many writers have waxed witty, as he has been led to 
expect. He will perhaps find that the people move more 
slowly and deliberately than his standard demands; that 

277 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

there are not enough of the quaint costumes, of which he 
has read so much, to be seen in the large centers, to satisfy 
his sense of the picturesque ; but for him whose eyes are 
open to the glory of attainment and the greatness of art, 
whose mind is attuned to effects of environment upon the 
development of character, who can appreciate the brave 
and successful attempts of a people grown out of the very 
soil to ameliorate sorrow, poverty and suffering and who 
have succeeded in spite of adverse conditions and climate 
in establishing an almost ideal form of civilization and 
government, I say no land has so much to offer as little 
Holland. As the poet says — 

"What land is this that seems to be 
A mingling of the land and sea? 
This land of sluices, dykes, and dunes? 
This water-net that tessellates 
The landscape? This unending maze 
Of gardens, through whose latticed gates 
The imprisoned pinks and tulips gaze; 
Where in long summer afternoons 
The sunshine, softened by the haze, 
Comes streaming down as through a screen; 
Where over fields and pastures green 
The painted ships float high in air, 
And over all and everywhere 
The sails of windmills sink and soar, 
Like wings of sea-gulls on the shore?" 

It is all wonderful, and I take leave with much tender- 
ness of the flower-decked plains of Haarlem, the splendid 

278 



"TOT WEERSIENS" 

golden helmets of Friesland, the sad-colored dunes with 
the waving greenish-gray grass, the blue-bloused solitary 
sheep-herder of the Drenthe, the skies above piled high 
with mighty cumulous clouds ready to spill over their 
silver showers at any moment, and the waving arms of 
the busy mills dotting the waterways. My mind dwells 
upon the great painters — Hobbema, the Van Rhyns, de 
Hooch, the Ruysdaels, Metsu and Hals; the great schol- 
ars, Grotius and Erasmus ; great William of the house of 
Orange and his valiant Admiral Tromp; and Wilhel- 
mina, the beloved Queen ; and so, 

"Tot Weersiens I" 

The Author. 
New York March, 1909. 



279 



Postscript 



^S/^ OW that this new edition of "Holland of To-day," 
111 which I have revised very carefully, is to be pub- 
*^^ lished in a new and larger form, and with addi- 
tional colorplates from paintings made during my latest 
visit to this most charming and unique country, I have re- 
ceived from a valued Netherlands friend a very urgent 
and most earnest request that I write a Postscript to my 
"Tot Weersiens," (for which he thanks me,) asking that I 
make even more clear to my readers, the fact that the 
people of the Netherlands are not at all the Freaks that 
(what he calls) "the most absurd picture postcards," col- 
lected by tourists, make them appear to be. 

"Let me beg of you, Mynheer," he asks, "to tell your 
readers that all Dutchmen are not Volendam or Marken 
fishermen, and also that most certainly all Dutchwomen 
are not coarse, red-cheeked, purple-armed, pigeon-toed 
milkwomen, carrying on their shoulders great green 
wooden yokes from which are suspended polished brass 
milk cans. 

That no Dutch man or woman "Yodles." 
That Dutch towns and cities do not consist alone of 
narrow lanes and streets closed at one end by tall 

280 



POSTSCRIPT 

thatched windmills, with red-roofed, one-story wooden 
houses painted fantastically yellow and green, behind 
little boxed gardens, approached by "cute" bridges over 
narrow ditches, and lined by trees quaintly trimmed and 
cut into the semblance of birds and animals. That the 
horizon is not always bounded by hundreds of red, white 
and blue whirling windmills. That there are other 
flowers besides tulips. That the visitor in the streets of 
Amsterdam or The Hague will not be stared out of coun- 
tenance by lines of wondering peasants, clad in wide vel- 
veteen knickerbockers and great wooden shoes. That 
Dutchmen do not carry about huge clay "churchwarden" 
pipes, nor smoked herring in their pockets. That Dutch- 
women do not ever wear two long yellow braids hanging 
down their backs. That they do not wear wooden shoes. 
That wooden shoes are not called "sabots" in Holland. 
That the people of the Netherlands are not living illus- 
trations of anachronistic anecdotes ever clad in theatrical 
costume, and always dancing at sunset, hand in hand in 
the streets and squares of The Hague and Rotterdam, or 
on the sands of Scheveningen. That the Queen does not 
wear the Marken costume. That all the people of the 
Netherlands do not still dwell in fantastic peak-roofed 
houses raised high above the waters on piles, or dwell in 
sixteenth century interiors, with leaded window panes, 
and sit about blazing peat fires in richly carved and blue- 
tiled chimney places, with the brass chandeliers ablaze 

281 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

with dripping wax or tallow candles suspended from the 
highly polished and raftered ceilings ; with interiors fur- 
nished with arrays of luxurious cupboards and carved 
cabinets of inlaid mother of pearl and marquetry, 
crammed with priceless Delft blue china, and apostle 
spoons. Or that brass bound pigskin covered "Elzevirs" 
represent their only literary or spiritual food. 

That all Dutch people do not drink gin. 

That there are certainly other means of travel in the 
Netherlands than man-towed or horse-drawn antique 
canal boats, and stage coaches. Nor do they use carrier 
pigeons or storks as messengers. 

That the Dutch people themselves are as immensely 
entertained by the quaintness of certain of the far-away 
villages and their costumes, as are the tourists who search 
them out. 

Alluring and attractive as these customs are to the 
villages and their customs, as are the tourists who search 
stranger, the people of the Netherlands, hitherto occupied 
with their own affairs, have awakened suddenly to the 
fact that the world is inclined to judge them and their 
accomplishments in the light of an opera bouffe perform- 
ance, and not to be taken at all seriously. They are 
shocked at this discovery. They resent this summing up. 

As a step in the right direction (so they have decided) 
the celebration of the most picturesque fete, the Kermis, 

282 



Krommenie — Over the Teacups 



>,<\\nR"iT 'm\\ ■\yTO — svN^TOmoty\ 



POSTSCRIPT 

is forbidden in the large cities. This is a great blow to 
the peasants and the "Boer" or farmer, but the law is 
to be enforced. 

"The Netherlands" (continues my friend), "is quite 
different in reality. The country, though small in area, 
is an entirely earnest, unsentimental, and most up-to- 
date nation. It wishes to be better understood, even 
if it does reluctantly have to relinquish year by year some 
one or more of its archaic, long cherished and time hon- 
ored customs. 

The Dutch are an intensely ambitious, serious minded, 
and commercial people, who are animated with a desire to 
maintain Holland's prestige and her monopolies in the 
international markets. 

They are a highly scientific people as well, and among 
other accomplishments have developed the art of agri- 
culture to the highest degree. They excel in engineer- 
ing. Their cattle breeding serves as a model for the 
world, and their ancient culture which long led the world 
still maintains a foremost position. Their universities 
are world famed. That, in short, "the people of the 
Netherlands are entirely and fully 'up to date,' and desire 
to be so considered." 

In all of this I most fully and heartily agree, and I 
hope that my readers will find these sentiments, and my 
affectionate admiration for both the people and the coun- 

283 



HOLLAND OF TO-DAY 

try, written clearly between the lines of these apprecia- 
tive and discriminating chapters, which were written 
"con amore" more than ten years ago. 

The Author. 
Greenwich, Conn., 1919. 



284 



INDEX 



"Aanspreker," 219 
Advertising billboards, 239 
Aertz, 111 
Alkmaar, Almshouse, the, 141 

the Cheese Market, 140 
" siege of by the Spanish, 

142 
" the Weigh House, 142 
Alva, Duke of, 141, 238, 256, 357 
Amalia of Solms, Princess, 206 
Ameland, 243 
Amerongen Castle, 11, 18 
Amersfoort, 190 
Amstel river, the, 37 
Amsterdam, 29, 56, 120 

Aquarium, 39 
Bagijnhoff, 38 
the Beurs, 120 
charitable institutions 

of, 128 
"Dam," the, 37, 120 
financial center, the, 36 
Gare Centrale, 37 
Kalverstraat, the, 38, 

122 
Little Courtyard, the, 

38 
Nieuwe Kerk, 38 
Orphanage, the, 39 
Oude Kerk, 39 
Palais Royal, 37, 121 
Pyl-Steeg, 185 
Rembrandt Plein, 38, 

120, 124 
Rijks Museum, 128 



Amsterdam, St. Anthony's Weigh- 
house, 128 
State Theater, 39 
Sumptuous houses, 36 
Tea gardens, 185 
Theaters, 184 
Weeper's Tower, 127 
Zoological Garden, 39 

Antwerp, 15, 56 

Arminius, 169 

Art, Ancient and Modern, 67 

Artist Colonies, 190 

Assen, 56 

Automobiles, 205 

Barneveld, John Van Olden, 258, 

259 
Batavia, 253 

Batavian Republic, the, 261 
"Battle of Waterloo," Pleneman, 73 
Beggars of the Sea, the, 257 
Belgium, annexation of, 262 

" demand for Dutch Terri- 
tory by, i6 
refugees from, 30 
Bergen-opzoom, 109 
Beukelszoof, 177 
Biervliet, 177 
Binnerwaarden, the, 158 
Blake, Admiral, 179 
Boats, 192, 227, 229, 232 

" passenger, 191 
Boer, 9, 155, 222 
Boer War, the, 13 
Bol, Ferdinand, 70, ill 



285 



INDEX 



Bolsward, 237, 238, 240 
Bonaparte, Louis, 261, 294 

Napoleon, 57, 88, 190, 
261 
Bookshops, 43 
Bosboom, 34 
Boswell, James, 170 
Boys, One of the, 246 
Boyland's Museum, 72 
Brand, ballad by, 21 
Brassware, 195 
Bredius, Doctor, 33 
Broek, 129 

Brouwer, Adriaen, 70 
Bruce, Robert, 268 
Building methods in Holland, 40 
Burges, 15 
"By Land and Sea," 160 

Caine, Hall, 43 

Cambridge University, 169 

Campbell, Douglas, "The Puritan in 
Holland, England and America," 
263, 266 

Canals, 45, 118, 191 

Cape Horn, 148 

Cattle trade, 240 

Cats, Jacob, 44 

Cecil, Sir Robert, 180 

"Character of Holland, The," An- 
drew Marvel, 64 

Characteristics of the Dutch People, 
46, 90 

Charlemagne, 242, 253 

Charles the Bold, 254 

Charles the First, 44, 58 

Charles H, 58, 128, 266 

Charles V, King of Spain, 255 

Chatham, Earl of, 88 

Chimes, Church of St. Jacques, 209 

Church services, 220 



Claas, Haasje, 40 

Climate of Holland, 48 

Clubs, 77 

Coen, Pieter, 148 

Coinage of Holland, 49, 52 

Colonies, 56 

Corelli, Marie, 43 

Coster of Haarlem, 58 

Crown Prince of Germany, 166 

Cullinan, Diamond, the, 124, 125 

Cuyp, Albert, 68, 70, ill 

De Bossu, Admiral, 

de Hooch, Pieter, 69, 70, 1 14 

de Keyser, Hendrik, 179, 182 

De Ruyter, Admiral, 87, 259, 260 

de Witt, Brothers, 35, 208, 209, 214, 

260 
de Witt, John, 259, 260 
de Witt (painter), 206 
Delft, 180 

" Museum Van Meerton, 181 

" Nieuwe Kerk, i8o, 182 

" Oude Kerk, 179 

" pottery and porcelain, 178 
Delftshaven, 176 
Delph, J. W., 180 
Descartes, 169, 267 
Dokkum, 243 
Domburg, 108 
Don Frederick, August, 142 
Dort, 196 

" Belle vue. The, 109 

" Groot Hoofd Poort, The, iio 

" Groot' Kirk, The, 110 

" history of, 109 

" Picture Gallery, no 

" quaint houses of, 109 

" Synod of, ill 
Dou, Gerard, 34, 69, 70, 207 
Doughty ("Friesland Meres"), 231 



286 



INDEX 



Doyle, Sir Conan, 43 
Drenthe, 56, 167 
Dress, 138 
Dreyfus, 13 
Drug Stores, 187 
Dutch East Indies, 148 
Dutch Go-Cart, A, 78 
Dutch people, characteristics of, 46, 
90 

" " dress of, 90 

" " pro-Ally in senti- 

ment, 9 

" " love of freedom, 18, 

57 

" " love of justice, 13 

" " use of tobacco by, 91 

Dutch Reformed Church, the, 52 
Dutch Republic, The, Motley, 18 
Dutch School of painting, the, 67, 

73 
Dutch Trading Company, 64 
Dykes, 47, 57 

East India Company, the, 178, 183 
Edam, 138, 224 

" Museum, the, 139 
Edward I of England, 268 
Eggers, Petrus, 272 
Egmont, Count, 256 
Emma of Waldeck, Regent, 262 
Emperor of Japan, 206 
England, 88 

" War with, 260 
English, use of, 220 
Enkhuizen, 166, 224 

" An Interior, 68 

Erasmus, 58, 63, II4 
Exports, 52 



Fen District, 167 
Fielding, Henry, 169 



First International Peace Confer- 
ence, 205 

Fisheries, 176, 199 

Fishermen, 198 

Flinck, Govert, 70 

Flushing (Vlissingen), 15, 87 

Food, 91, 218 

Frederick Henry, Prince, 206 

Free Frisians, 149 

French, use of, 220 

French Occupancy of Holland, 261 

Friesland, 56, 150, 154, 224, 253, 
254 

Geddes, James ("John de Witt"), 

267 
Gerhard, Balthasar, 178 
German envy of Holland, 214 
" language, 212 
Ocean, 212 
Germans, hatred of, 9 
Gevangenpoort, 35, 204, 208 
Goes, 108, 112 
Goldsmith, Oliver, 65, 169 
Gromarus, 169 
Gorkum, Old Houses, 260 
Gouda, 62, 115 
Granville, 255, 256 
Great Britain, 212 
Great Privilege, The (the Magna 

Charta of Holland), 254 
Groningen, 56, 167, 171 
Groningen University, 169 
Groote Kerk of St. Stephen, 61 
Grotius, 58, 169, 180 
Grouw, 240 
Guelderland, 56 
Guicciardini, 152 

Haarlem, 162 

" Amsterdam Gate, 162, 
166 



287 



INDEX 



Haarlem, great organ of, 63 
" Groote Kerk, 164 
" Horticultural Society, 161 
Hague, The, 29, 32, 33, 35, 56, 204, 
209 
" " Baron Steen, 204 

" " Bibliotheque Royale, 

208 
" " Binnenhof, 35, 208 

" " Buitenhof, 35 

" " Communal Museum, 

207 
" " Church of St. Jacques, 

209 
" " Gemeente Museum, 34 

" " Gevangenpoort, 35. 

204, 208 
" " Gracht's Picture Gal- 
lery, 204 
" " Huis ten Bosch, the, 

56, 204, 206 
" " Mauritshuis, 204 

" " Mesdag Museum, 204 

" " Municipal Museum, 

204 
" " Palace of Peace, 209 

" " Royal Library, 34 

" " Salle Historique, 208 

" " storks, 186 

" " Vijver, the, 204 

" " "Viverberg," 35 

" " Willemspark, 36 

Hals, Franz, 13, 34, 70, 162, 207, 2l6 
Hammermen, Guild of, 273 
Harderwijk, 190 
Harlingen, 168, 238 
Hazlitt, William, 277 
Headdress, 155, 172, 195, 242 

" native, worn by Queen 

Wilhelmina, 212 
Heeg, 229 



Hein, Admiral Piet, 179 

Helder, the. Foreword, 48 

Henry, Prince Consort, 10, 15, 33, 
208, 210, 215, 263 

Henry II, 257 

Henry the Silent, 206 

Hertogenbosch, 56 

Hewett, Professor W. T., 269 

Hilversum, 190 

Hindeloopen, 154, 235, 236, 256 

" Little Green Staircase, 

The, 236 

Hobbema, 70 

HohenzoUern, William, Foreword, 18 

Holbein, 207 

Holland, bookshops in, 43 

" building methods in, 40 
" Coinage in, 49, 52 
" during the war, 30 
" foreign mistakes concern- 
ing, 280 
" military defense of, 31, 51 
" North, 29 
" South, 29 
" tobacco, use of, 40 
" wealth of, 14 

"The Hollow Land," 86 

Hoorn, 148, 149 

The Old Tower (Frontis- 
piece) 

Horn, 256 

Horse-racing, 241 

Hospitality, 194 

Hotels, 90, 122 

Houdecoeter, 70 

"House in the Wood," 56, 204, 206 

House of Orange, restoration of, 262 

Hudson, Hendrik, the Half Moon, 182 

Huis ten Bosch (House in the 
Wood), 56, 204, 206 

Huygens, Constantine, 45 



288 



INDEX 



Ijilst, 231. 234 
" Windmill near, 232 

Imports, 51 

Inventions, 58 

Institutions, charitable, of Amster- 
dam, 128 

Israels, Joseph, 34, 72 

Jacquelin of Burgundy, 254 

Jagersfontein, the, 126 

Janplaisir (carriage), 223 

Jansenists, the, ill, 118, 

Johaniters, the, 10 

John of Leyden, 58 

John William of Friesland, Prince, 
260 

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 170 

Jubilee Diamond, the, 127 

Juliana, Princess, 215 

Kalverstraat, 40 
Kampen, 166 
Kapsel (headdress), 155 
Katwijk, 176 
Keldermans, 103 
Kermis, the, 13, 142, 282 
Kipling, Rudyard, 43 
Klopper (lace ornament), 219 
Knowledge of Art, music and lan- 
guages, 216 
Koopman, Mr. H., 276 
Krommenie : Over the Teacups, 272 
Kruger, Paul, "Oom Paul," 45 
Kwadijk, 224 

Language of the Dutch People, 53 

Laren, 190 

Leeuwarden, 56, 239, 240 

" headquarters for silver 

workers, 271 
Old Church, The, 62 
Leicester, Earl of, 180 



Leiderdorp, 181 

Leyden, "St. Anna's Hofje," 170 

" Siege of, 257 

" Street in, 264 

" University, 169 
Lievens, Jan, 70 
Limburg, 16, 56 
Liotard, Mile., 212 
Locke, John, 58 
Louis XI of France, 254 
Louis XIV of France, 260 
Lucas van Leidan, 170 
Lucus, 1 14 
Luxemburg, i6, 56, 254, 262 

Maastricht, 56 

Maes, Nicholas, 70, u 1 

Manners, 216, 266 

Margaret of Parma, 256 

Maria Theresa, Queen, 260 

Maris, the Brothers, 72 

Maris, Jacob, 34, 175 

Marken, 131, 134, 196 

Marriage ceremony, 81 

Marvel, Andrew, "The Character of 
Holland," 64 

Maasluis, 113, 176 

Maurice, Prince of Orange, i8o, 259 

Mauritshuis, the, 33, 207 

Mauve, Anton, 34, 135, 190 

Maximilian of Austria, 254 

Meldrum, David S., 9 

Merwede Canal, 48 

Merwede river, the, 112 

Mesdag, 34, 72, 175 

Metser, 70 

Middelburg, 56, 93, 275 

" Gekke Betje (Foolish 

Betsey), 84 
" history of, 79 

" Kermis, The, 90 



289 



INDEX 



Middelburg, Museum, the, 94 
" Nieuwe Kerk, 93 

Middel Harnis, 177 
Monnickendam, 19, 130 

" Bell Tower and 

Weigh House, 130 
Montagu, Mary Wortley, 114 
Motley, "The Dutch Republic," 18, 

205, 255, 257 
Mozart, 63 
Muiden, 190 
Muller, Christopher, 63 

Napoleon Bonaparte, 57, 88, 190, 261 
Navy, Dutch, 57 
Nes, 243 
Netherlands, the, 29 

" the, misunderstood by 

foreigners, 19 

" natural resources of, 57 

Neutrality, violation by the Dutch, 

17 

New York, 20 

Nijhuizum, 234 

Nijkerk, 190 

Nobility, 219 

North Brabant, 56, 108 

North Holland, 56 

" " Canal, 48 

" " Tower, In a, 200 

" " manners and cus- 

toms, 142 

North Sea, 254 

Order of the Golden Fleece, 254 
Oude Maas river, the, 112 
Over-Ysel, 56 
Oxford University, 169 

Palace of Amsterdam, 121 
Paleis Voor Volksvlijt, Amsterdam, 
185 



Paris, 32, 33 

" University, 169 
Park Schouwburg, Amsterdam, 184 
Parliament, Dutch, 214 
Pastry, 235 
Penn, William, 20 
Pepys, William, 180 
Pernis, 177 
Peter the Great, 134 
Peter's House, 134 
Philadelphia, 32 
Philip II of Spain, 255 
Philip, Duke of Burgundy, 254 
Philip the Fair, 255 
Pichegru, General, 261 
Pieneman, "Battle of Waterloo," 73 
Pinke Wad, the, 243 
Population of Holland, 52 
Porcelain, 178 
Potter, Paul, 34, 67, 68, 70, 207, 

224 
Pottery, 178 

Delft, 178 
Prinsenhof, the, 178, 18 1 
Protestants' Massacre, 257 
Provincial Council, 92 
Prussia, 212 
Publishers, 43 
Puritans, the, at Delft, 20 

Quellin, A., 179 

Reformation, the, 265 

Religion of the Dutch People, 52 

Rembrandt, 34, 70, 207 

" birthplace of, 124 

"Night Watch, The," 
129 
Republic, Dutch, 253, 256 
Revolution of 1688, the, 265 
Rhine river, the, 48 



290 



INDEX 



Robert, Earl of Flanders, 268 

Rogers, "Story of Holland," 265 

Romans, the, 119, 253 

Rotterdam, 42, 1 13 

" Boymans' Museum, 1 14 

" St. Lawrence, Church of, 

114 
" Museum voor Geschie- 

denes en Kunst, 1 14 

Rubens, 34, 207 

St. Anthony's Weigh-house, 128 
St Bartholomew, Massacre of, 257 
Scaliger, 169 
Scheffer, Ary, 1 1 1 
Scheldt River, the, 15 
Scheveningen, 33, 74, 174 

" fishing town, 176 

" Kurhaus, 174 

Schouenvaardersgild (Dutch Trad- 
ing Company), 64 
Schneten, Willem, 148 
Shaftsbury, Lord, 58 
Silver, Dutch, 270 

" " American imitations, 

270, 271 
" " modern, 274 

" " spoons, 275 

" " Hall mark, the, 273 

" " Model of Warship, 

272 
" Six Rare Examples, 
276 
"touch stamps," 273 
Silverware, 90 
Silver workers, guild of, 272 
Singel, 240 

Skating in Holland, 79 
Sneek, 231, 239 

" Water Gate, The, 250 
Sneeker Mere, 232 

29 



Social Life, 223 
South Holland, 56 
Spaarne, the, 164, 166 
Spinoza, 58, 124, 209 
Sports, 77 

Stadhouders, 9, 15, 18, 19, 36, 102 
Stad Schouwburg, Amsterdam, 184 
Stavoren, 152, 225, 226 
Steen, Jan, 34, 70, 207 
Sterne, Laurence, 277 
Stevens, Alfred, 175 
Stork, the, 186 

Stuarts, restoration of the, 265 
Synod of Dort (The Great Religious 
Congress), ill 

Tadema, Sir L Alma, 73 
Tasma, Abel, 148 
Tasmania, 148 
Teniers, 185 

Ter Gouw (Gouda), 115 
Teyler's Museum, 72 
Thackeray, 90, 121, 205 
Theater, the, 184 
Through Friesland, 224 
Tobacco, 40, 91, 187 

" used by boys, 238 
"Tot Weersiens," 277 
Treaty of Utrecht, 1 19 
Trekschuiten (passenger boats), 46 
Tromp, Admiral Maarten Harpert- 
zoon, 148, 179, 214, 259, 260, 272 
Tulip bulb culture, 160 

United Kingdom, the, 51 
United States, 212 
Universities in Holland, 14, 169 
Urk, 149, 166 
Utrecht, 56, 116, 118, 190 

" canals, 1 18 

" the cathedral, 118 

1 



INDEX 



Utrecht, Treaty of, 119, 256, 261 
" University, 169 

Van Deebbel, Cornelius, 58 

Van Dieman's Land, 148 

Van Dyck, 34, 207 

Van Eyck, Brothers, 70 

Van Goyen, 34, 69 

Van Honthorst, 70 

Van Kampen, Jac, 38 

Van Mierevelt, 178, 182 

Van Mieris (senior), 70 

Van Mieris, the Younger, Franz, 34, 

207 
Van Ostade, Adriaan, 70 
Van Ostade, Isack, 69 
Van Ravestuyn, Jan, 34, 207 
Van Ruisdael, Jacob, 68, 70 
Van s'Gravesande, 196 
Van Staat, Raad, 51 ' 
Van Swinderen, Rene de Marees, 

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 16 
Van de Velde, WiUem, 68, 69 
Van den Vondel, Joost, 36, 38, 44 
Van der Heist, 13, 70, 129 
Van der Heyden, 70 
Van der Maes, Quiringh Gerritz, 34, 

207 
Van der Neer, 69 
Van der Velde, Adrian, 70 
Veenhuizen, Convict Colony, 168 
Veere, 96 

" Castle of, the, 105 

" "Het Struis," 102 

" invasion of by Napoleon, 96 

" Return to Port, The, 98 

" Town Hall, the, 102, 104 
Verdun, Treaty of, 253 
Vermeer de Delft, Jan, 34, 70, 182, 

207 
"Vicar of Wakefield," 30 



Vienna, Treaty of, 262 
Vlaardingen, 113, 176 
Vlissingen (Flushing), 15, 87 
Volendam, 135, 236 
Von Bentinck, Count, 11, 18 

Walcheren, 87, 276 

" Expedition, 88 

" Spanish Invasion of, 97 

War of Independence, 104 
Waterloo, 261 
Weenix, Jan, 70 
Weeper's Tower, the, 127 
Westphalia, Peace of, 259 
Whistler, 196 
Wieringen, 18, 166 
Wilibrod, first bishop of Utrecht, 

119 
Wilhelmina, Queen, 10, 13, 33, 35, 
208, 209, 212, 214 
" Coronation of, 263 

Willem, 177 
William I, king of the Netherlands, 

33, 262 
William II, king of the Netherlands, 

262 
William II of Orange, 259 
William III, king of the Nether- 
lands, 262 
William III of Orange, 260 
William IV of Orange, 261 
William V of Orange, 261 
William V, "Stadhouder," 207 
William of Orange, Prince, 33, 178, 
179. 255, 
256, 257 
" " " Assassination 
of, 258 
William the Silent, 62, 181, 256, 259 
Williams, Roger, 20 
Wilson, President Woodrow, 44 



292 



INDEX 

Windmills, 133 Zaandam, 133 

Winter, Miss, 212 " Peter's House, 134 

Workum, 234 Zeebrugge, canal, 15 

Wouverman, 70 Zeeland, 56, 92, 268, 275 

Zola, 13 
Y river, the, 37 Zuyderzee, 57, 77, 166, 226, 254 

Zwolle, 56, 201 
Zaan river, the, 133 Zwuartenwaal, 177 



293 



H 155 



79 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



028 013 670 



